Daniel Gazdag made it two hat tricks this week for Philadelphia Union as he powered the Boys in Blue past Nashville SC on Saturday night.
On the heels of Tai Baribo's three-goal performance on Wednesday, the Hungarian midfielder followed suit with two goals in the opening frame before scoring his third career hat trick. The scoring began in the 10th minute with a cheeky chip over Nashville SC’s keeper. Just before the halftime whistle, Gazdag doubled Philly’s advantage again from close range. In the 89th minute Gazdag completed the three goal evening as he counter pressed and took advantage of a mistake in the Nashville defense to round out the scoring.
On the other end of the pitch, the Union defense limited Nashville to just three shots on frame to collect their seventh clean sheet across all competitions.
Head Coach Jim Curtin had a fully healthy group for a second straight match, and he took advantage of that consistency, sending out a near-identical squad to Wednesday’s against Nashville. He made just two changes to his lineup deploying Damion Lowe on the backline alongside Jakob Glesnes while Kai Wagner and Olivier Mbaizo held down their typical positions.
Jose Martinez and Leon Flach were back in the midfield, joined by Quinn Sullivan in his natural position on the right side of the diamond. Daniel Gazdag, Mikael Uhre, and Tai Baribo made up the front three, making for another complete Union squad despite missing starter Jack McGlynn and Nate Harriel due to the Olympics.
Nashville was without a key piece for that same reason – Walker Zimmerman is one of Team USA’s three overage players. He was one of seven players listed out – the rest, including Sam Surridge who had been listed as questionable, were unable to play due to injury. The match marked the opponents final game under the leadership of interim Head Coach Rumba Munthali, as newly hired leader BJ Callahan will take over ahead of Leagues Cup.
Subaru Park was packed to the brim for the summer Saturday night matchup, and fans were loud well before kick off in support of the home side. Their energy was especially apparent when public address announcer Kevin Casey announced Tai Baribo as part of the starting xi – his name was met with emphatic applause.
The game was physical from the start – the first yellow card caution was shown in the second minute after Damion Lowe took down attacker Forster Ajago near the left sideline. The discipline puts Lower in card accumulation, meaning he’ll be unavailable for the team’s first match after Leagues Cup against Columbus Crew.
The eldest Sullivan took the first shot of the match in the fifth minute, collecting an intuitive pass from Baribo for a blast from distance. It was blocked by a Nashville defender, and keeper Joe Willis recovered the rebound.
It was Gazdag who put the team on the board five minutes later, chipping the ball over Willis to find the back of the net. Though it was the Hungarian midfielder who made the final move, the build up was a full team effort. A quick pass from Mbaizo in the right corner to Sullivan, who gave it to Flach for a pass into the box for Gazdag’s finishing touch. The goal marked Gazdag’s 12th so far in 2024, despite missing a stretch of matches due to international duty in which he repped his native Hungary at the UEFA Euros.
Another player more recently returned from international duty made a massive impact on the match early – shortly after a big tackle against Hany Muhktar, Martinez brought his talents to the attacking end, taking a blast from distance in the 19th minute. Another Union player was shown a yellow in the 20th minute – this time, it was Uhre, who booked for simulation when he fell to the grown at the top of the box.
Philadelphia Union were eager to rack up goals, testing Nashville’s Joe Willis early with six shots compared to just two for the visitings before the half hour mark. The second attempt from the Tennessee side was the closest as midfielder Alex Muyl attempted to send the ball into the opposite corner past Blake, but it went just shy of the left post.
Mbaizo’s locked-down defense stopped another Nashville build up – he chased down Jacob Shaffelburg’s determined drive toward the net, taking the ball and the midfielder down in stride.
In his second game back from injury, Blake made a big save in the 34th minute, leaping high to grab a powerful ball from Ajago out of the air by the crossbar. Moments after the stop, he went down in pain, but after a conversation with Philadelphia Union training staff, he made the call to continue playing. He got up from where he sat, and when he did, he was met with an eruption of applause from fans in the stands, followed by a booming “Andre Blake” chant that rung through the stadium.
It wasn’t long after that the home team extended their lead to 2-0 by way of another Gazdag goal. He claimed a brace on the night after a skillful outside foot pass from Uhre, which set him up for a 1v1 close range shot from the right side of the box.
Philadelphia headed into the half 2-0, and they worked diligently to keep it that way. Blake made another important save in the 50th minute, putting his body on the line for a dive that stopped a close chance from Muhktar.
At the hour mark Curtin made his first adjustments to the lineup bringing in more size in the form of Jack Elliott and recently acquired forward Samuel Adeniran. Elliott quickly saw himself leaving a mark on the match as his name ended up in the referee’s book for a tackle on Mukhtar. Meanwhile Adeniran’s first touches at Subaru Park took form in a drive up the left sidelines, charging forward with the speed Curtin boasted about during his pregame press conference before passing to Sullivan on the other side of the field.
After the changes, Nashville nearly found itself down just a goal with a set piece chance that crashed off the woodwork. Nashville’s No. 10 provided the service as Mukhtar placed a cross perfectly at the edge of the six that connected with Brett Kallman on a towering header. The Nashville defender rose up and smashed it past everyone but saw it clank off the crossbar and generate a counter attack for the Boys in Blue. Brujo Martinez took possession in full stride, dancing around a defender before getting fouled just past the center stripe. The tackle saw Martinez down on the ground and center back Josh Bauer found himself with a yellow card.
The tactical chess match between the two head coaches continued just after the 70th minute as Teal Bunbury and Daniel Lovitz took to the pitch for the trailing Tennessee side while Alejandro Bedoya and Jesus Bueno brought defensive grit to the Union midfield.
With the bulk of the possession during that span, Nashville continued to try and break up the Union shutout but the Boys in Blue continued to see standout defensive plays. In the 78th minute Taylor Washington found himself cutting inside for a shot on frame only to see a recovery run from Mbaizo prevent it from reaching the Union net.
With five minutes left in the match, Nashville again were left frustrated as Mukhtar flicked a stunning pass over the Union defense to Bunbury for a one-time blast from close range. Brick Wall Blake was perfectly positioned to make the reaction stop and keep the zero on the board.
With Nashville committing all their numbers into the attack they saw the two goal deficit become three in the 89th minute. Looking to start another attack, goalkeeper Joe Willis shot a pass to Kallman who slipped at the edge of the 18. Gazdag was right there to pick up the pieces as he took possession and dribbled about the scrambling keeper before depositing his 14th goal of the 2024 season.
The Boys in Blue turn their focus from regular season play to their participation in Leagues Cup 2024 with both matches for the Union hosted at Subaru Park. Their Group Stage journey kicks off next weekend for a Fireworks Night clash against Charlotte FC on Saturday, July 27th. Kick off is set for 7:30PM ET with coverage on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
