A second half penalty proved to be the difference as Philadelphia Union suffered a 1-0 road loss to Eastern Conference leading FC Cincinnati on Saturday night.
With the Boys in Blue in the middle of the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Quarterfinal series against Atlas FC, Â Jim Curtin went with fresh legs and a new formation as the club matched up against former Pat Noonan. With six new starters into the lineup, the matchup saw a 3-5-2 against a 3-5-2 battle of wits.
While there was a new formation, the tactics at the heart of the Union didn’t with high pressure still on display. In the 11th minute the Union turned up the press with Leon Flach and Jesus Bueno dispossessing Marco Angulo just outside his box. Flach battled the Cincinnati man off the ball and quickly sent a pass to Chris Donovan for a right-footed blast along the cross the just went wide of the post.
After the shot FC Cincinnati went back right back to having long, long spells of possession with the center back trio trying to find a way to get a ball into the middle of the pitch. Angulo found some space and went for a shot from outside the back but reigning Defender of the Year Jakob Glesnes was well positioned to blocked it outside the box. Jose Martinez and Cincinnati’s playmaking No. 10 Luciano Acosta squared off for the first time in the 14th minute with the Acosta drawing a free kick chance right outside the lip of the box. Centered perfectly in the middle of the Union goal, Acosta went for a shot under the wall but the defense did its job. The block turned into a run out for the Union with Donovan charging through to steal the ball and turn into a one man counterattack that quickly was smothered.
The Union’s defensive shape caused fits for FC Cincinnati who wanted to turn possession into chances down the middle but couldn’t unlock Philly got into its blocked of five defenders and three midfielders centrally in the first half. With no gaps, Cincinnati began to force passes into Acosta.
In the 44th minute Glesnes felt a forced pass incoming and stepped up field to man mark Acosta which forced the turnover. The Norwegian center back quickly went forward to lead an offensive charge for the Union, cutting inside before sending a curling pass on the grass to Jesus Bueno. The midfielder tried to clip a volley over the defense as Sullivan went down the middle. Nick Haagland got a touch on the flick to spill the ball out wide where Chris Donovan earned a Union corner. Cincinnati handled the Union corner and looked to break free with a long ball toward Vazquez that looked certain would see a breakaway for the USMNT forward. Martinez turned on the jets to track him down and slam shut the chance with a perfectly placed boot on the ball to turn the forward over.
The Union produced the first scoring chance of the second half with a direct ball played over the top from Nathan Harriel to Donovan. Philly’s forward chested down the pass and spun a pass to Sullivan as he shielded a defender. The Union homegrown too followed with a perfect box out to set up a pass for Jesus Bueno. The Venezuelan caught the pass in stride but forced it a little quick to fire it wide.
Out of the locker room, Cincinnati’s focus was to get touches for their top playmakers with Acosta and Brenner dropped to nearly the center stripe to get on the ball against the Union’s defensive shape. The second change was to make quick combo runs should the Union be too aggressive on the outside which turned out to be the case in the 57th minute. Counting on the Union’s left side, Santiago Arias exploited the space to get in behind and cut a cross to the middle of the box where Olivier Mbaizo was able to clear.
At the hour mark, Curtin turned to his stacked bench of usual Union starters with Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Alejandro Bedoya taking to the pitch for the final half hour.
Maintaining the 3-5-2 shape despite the subs, Cincinnati again went for an attack to the Union’s left to create the game’s only goal. Allowed to float wherever on the pitch he’d like, Acosta made his way to the flank and set up a give and go to get into the box. Leon Flach saw it coming and quickly went to ground to block the pass but the trailing leg somehow spilled it into the path of Acosta. 1v1 against Andre Blake, the midfielder went at the keeper and delivered a cross to Vazquz while colliding with the Union keeper. The forward unleashed a shot on the open goal but saw it blocked off the line by Glesnes. The rebound bounced right to Brenner for a second go that snuck through to break the deadlock. However…the goal was taken off the board with the referee awarding a penalty kick for the initial contact between Acosta and Blake. With the match still scoreless, Blake guessed the correct way but saw it sneak under his glove for FC Cincinnati to stake the 1-0 lead for good.
In the 78th minute the Union returned to their 4-4-2 diamond with the injection of Jack McGlynn into the contest. The homegrown playmaker quickly got to work with a quick pass to Matt Real setting up a long-range shot from Harriel that was collected by the keeper.
The Union kept pushing with Gazdag and Bedoya combining outside the box for a left-footed shot on the ground from the Union captain that somehow the keeper saw at the last minute to preserve the lead.
Philadelphia Union returns to action in the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League for a late night contest against Atlas FC on Wednesday, April 12th. Kick off from Guadalajara, Mexico, is set for 10 p.m. ET with coverage on FS1 and TUDN.
