Tai Baribo scored in stoppage time of both halves to lead Philadelphia Union to a 2-0 victory over CF Montreal in the Leagues Cup Round of 32 on Friday night.
Baribo scored his eighth and ninth goals of the 2024 campaign to send the Boys in Blue into the Leagues Cup Round of 16 for the second consecutive season.
The Union's win coupled with FC Cincinnati's penalty kick shootout victory means the Union are headed to Ohio as they'll face off against FC Cincinnati on Tuesday, August 13th, at 7:30PM in a Round of 16 matchup for the 2024 Leagues Cup.
The Leagues Cup Round of 32 showdown at Subaru Park was a damp one, reminiscent of the last time the pair met in similar conditions at Stade Saputo in Montréal. On this occasion, however, the Philadelphia Union boasted a fortified crew, as Friday’s match marked the first time since April that the team had all of their regular contributors available to play. Other than new signee midfielder Danley Jean Jacques and injured first-year players Isaiah LeFlore and Markus Anderson, the Philadelphia Union was at full-strength.
Head Coach Jim Curtin fielded a strong lineup with Andre Blake in net, facing Montreál for the first time this year. Defending him, Nate Harriel made his first Union appearance since returning from the Paris Olympics, reclaiming the right back spot opposite Kai Wagner while Jakob Glesnes and Jack Elliott were paired at center back. The midfield featured José Martinez, Quinn Sullivan, Leon Flach, and Daniel Gazdag, while Tai Baribo and Samuel Adeniran started up top to complete the 4-4-2 diamond.
It was a slow start to the match at Subaru Park with the visitors finding the first shot of the match in the ninth minute. After a sliding pass from Fernando Alvarez, Bryce Duke found himself 1v1 with Blake in net, but his shot was saved by an unsurprisingly impressive effort from the team’s three-time Goalkeeper of the Year, sporting the captain’s armband.
The game picked up pace around that mark, as the Union’s centerback found a string of shots in the 11th and 12th minutes, testing Jonathan Sirois with a pair of header chances and a tap-in attempt admist chaos in the box.
Adeniran found himself in scoring position on multiple occasions throughout the opening 25 minutes. While first opportunities were offsides, he found his strong shot in the 25th minute, using the speed and force Curtin and Sporting Director Ernst Tanner described upon his signing to power one toward the net off a forward pass from Quinn Sullivan. Sirois made the save, but it didn’t shake him from taking a header in the 28th that ultimately missed right.
The sparse Union faithful that braved the hurricane forecasts for the match were in an uproar when Flach went to the ground in the penalty area – his feet were taken out from under him, but the official didn’t deem it worthy of a shot from the spot.
In his first match back at Subaru Park since representing the stars and stripes, Harriel nearly celebrated his homecoming with a golazo from far right, but his 38th minute boot went sailing just over the net.
Moments after public address announcer Kevin Casey announced that there would be a single minute of of time added to the first half, Baribo capitalized on a rebound following a promising build-up of passing. It started with Wagner on the left sideline, who settled a pass from Flach to find Adeniran near the net. Gabriele Corbo attempted a tackle while Adernian shot it, but when Sirois swatted the ball down, it fell to Baribo, who placed it for 1-0 lead before half.
The Boys in Blue came out of the locker room seeking to extend their lead. Adeniran continued his pursuit of his first DOOP in the 52nd minute, taking a pass from Gazdag off a bounce ahd quickly lacing a shot that forced a reaction save.
Five minutes after Philly’s chance, the Canadian side nearly tied the contest with a set piece opportunity. However Ariel Lassiter’s kick went sky-high and into the River End, garnering applause from the Union Supporters’ Section it landed in.
Shortly after the attempt, Head Coach Jim Curtin made a trio of substitutions at the hour mark sending in Alejandro Bedoya, Jack McGlynn, and Mikael Uhre to replace Adeniran, Flach, and Gazdag. Visiting Head Coach Laurent Courtois followed suit with four changes Kwadwo Opoku, Enzo Sosa, Dominic Iankov and Raheem Edwards took to the pitch.
Seven new players in the mix quickly became eight, when Curtin motioned for Olivier Mbaizo to sub in for Harriel in the 69th minute. With just over 15 minutes in the contest, Montreal sought to take advantage of their fresh legs as a long ball over the top nearly sent Opoku in on goal but Blake saw it coming and raced off his line to gain possession. Philly countered on the other end with a slicing run up the right flank from Mbaizo which game to an abrupt end with a 50/50 tackle.
Montreal’s final change of the night was another offensive-minded one as Sunusi Ibrahim joined the attack with just over 10 minutes in the match, seeking to extend their Leagues Cup journey. Both sides exchanged scoring chances in the 81st minute with McGlynn unlocking the Canadian defense with a threaded pass into the box that was cut out at the last minute. On the ensuing counter attack, Ferreira Coccaro got into the box and hit a centering pass to Iankov but the redirected shot went wide of the Union net.
The match took quite the turn in the 84th minute when Mbaizo and Ibrahim collided just outside the box. The referee quickly reached to his back pocket and issued a red card to the Cameroonian. With pleas on the pitch and the Union faithful making their opinions well known, the Video Assistant Referee summoned the head official for a check which saw the red card rescinded and just a yellow issued.
Just like at the end of the opening half, Baribo played all the way to the final whistle as a long ball over the top timed up perfectly with Montreal pushed up the pitch. McGlynn led the charge with just one defender between him and his Israeli forward teammate. McGlynn forced the Canadian defender to commit and delivered a perfectly weighted pass to Baribo for the second goal of the night.
With tonight's results, Philadelphia Union is headed to Ohio as they'll face off against FC Cincinnati on Tuesday, August 13th, at 7:30PM in a Round of 16 matchup for the 2024 Leagues Cup.
