Philadelphia Union continued its winning ways as they fought back from an early deficit to defeat rivals New York Red Bulls in a penalty kick shootout to advance to the Leagues Cup Quarterfinals.
Homegrown Nathan Harriel cancelled out a fourth minute goal from the visitors with a smashing header served in by Kai Wagner in the 68th minute to send the Round of 16 clash between the two Eastern Conference rivals into a penalty kick shootout. Goalkeeper Andre Blake gave the Union momentum early with a save in the first round while Jesus Bueno collected the game-winner with a smooth finish in the fifth round to see the Union take a 4-3 win in the shootout.
The Boys in Blue will face off against Queretaro F.C. for a spot in the Leagues Cup Semifinals with the contest set for Friday, August 11th at Subaru Park. Kick off is set for 8PM ET with broadcast details to be announced in the near future. Tickets for the match are now on sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
How It Went
After severe weather pushed the match back a day, the two Eastern Conference rivals took to the pitch on Tuesday night with a new wrinkle shown by the Union with Daniel Gazdag paired with Julian Carranza atop the lineup while Leon Flach and Jack McGlynn were set up with Jose Martinez.
The visitors jumped out to the early lead with the first goal coming just four minutes after the opening whistle. Red Bulls put their top playmakers on the ball with Luquinhas taking a Union clearance near the center stripe and racing down the middle of the field. As the Union sought to squeeze the space, the midfielder threaded the needle to Frankie Amaya into the box. With center back Jakob Glesnes racing over to cover, Amaya slid a pass across the box for an open finish by Elias Manoel at the back post.
Down a goal early, the Union didn’t panic with so much of the match remaining to find a goal. In the 10th minute, Philly tried to catch the visitors from New Jersey with a quick restart after Gazdag dribbled through a fury of defenders before getting taken down. Leon Flach recognized the space behind and went for it with the service over the top bouncing right at the edge of the 18. Taking it off the bounce, Flach tried to chip the keeper but saw it sail over the crossbar.
The Red Bulls continued to pressure every touch of the Union and nearly doubled their advantage in the first half. Pushing the ball to their goal scorer, Elliott stepped to cover Manoel but a quick touch saw Dante Vanzeir in alone on goal. 1v1 against the three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Blake raced off his line to close down the angle and succeed with the forward’s shot sliding wide of the post.
With the Union adjusting to the pressure and their new lineup, the 26th minute saw a scramble clearance from the Red Bulls. High up on the pitch, Glesnes resumed play with a throw in to McGlynn who ripped a diagonal pass into the box for Kai Wagner. Seeing the ball in flight the whole way, Wagner tee’d up a header across the face goal for the tap in finish only for it to be cleared away just in front of goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.
Just past the half hour mark the Union turned up their counter pressing with a long ball over the top intended for homegrown Nathan Harriel. Red Bulls opted to let it bounce back to the keeper providing the chance for the Union to capitalize. The right back pressured the keeper into a difficult header for center back Andres Reyes who turned and saw a pair of Union players right at his hip. Carranza poked it free and got it to Gazdag who dribbled it to his right twice before unleashing a shot that went just wide of the post.
Philly grew in confidence as the half went on as they found ways to unlock the Red Bull system. Beginning with a cut inside, Wagner shot a pass to Martinez who found the numbers advantage at the top of the box. A hard pass set up a quick combo between Carranza and McGlynn as the homegrown shot a pass out wide to Harriel who had creeped up the right flank and into the box. One touch later, Harriel whipped in a shot with his left that crashed off a defender and forced a difficult recovery by the keeper to prevent the equalizer.
Red Bulls quickly shook off the half chance and attacked the other end with Dante Vanzeir sending a pass to Luquinhas at the top of the box. The Brazilian opted for the shot but Jack Elliott stepped over for the key block.
Philly ramped the pressure to another level to close out the first half of play with a pair of corner kick chances. After the first was cleared away at the near post to set up the second, Wagner whipped in a cross into the six that forced a half clearance by the keeper’s punch. Martinez raced into position to unleash a blast from long range and did just that with the ball going direct to the boots of Carranza. Popping the ball into the air, Carranza attempted to recreate his 2022 bicycle kick goal against D.C. United but saw the effort blocked by a defender.
Philly came out of the break intent on giving Red Bull the same pressure they had dished out in the first 45 with the Boys in Blue pressing every single touch from the visitors. The mistakes started to occur for the visitors as Gazdag deflected a headed back pass and seemed in on goal but was barely beaten to the ball by a Red Bulls center back inside the 18. The all out pressure put even more pressure on the Union trio of center backs with Elliott, Glesnes and Lowe called upon to win their individual battles against the pacey forwards of New York Red Bulls.
With the back line holding down their side of the pitch, the Union pushed numbers forward with a ball over the top to Carranza to put the Union into a scoring area. Battling his defender the ball ended up out wide for Flach who slid a pass into the box and earned a corner kick. Down a man after Gazdag had to leave the field on the previous play, Wagner served up another strong corner kick that connected with Elliott at the edge of the six but was denied by a fingertip save by the keeper.
Head Coach Jim Curtin made his first two changes of the match in the 55th with Mikael Uhre and Jesus Bueno entering for Flach and Gazdag. The fresh legs were on display immediately with a ball over the top springing the Danish forward into an attacking position that rewarded the Union another corner. Wagner again was called upon to create a scoring chance and did with a dime to Glesnes for the one timer that went inches over the crossbar.
Philly continued to use the pace with Uhre again getting the better of his defender to cut a pass into the box that was in between Carranza and Bueno. A minute later the trio were again in the box with Uhre’s pace setting up another cross that nutmegged a defender and right to the Argentine striker. Carranza fired the quick strike but saw the effort blocked by a diving effort but present a follow up chance on the rebound for a trailing Bueno. The Venezuelan couldn’t get around the keeper however, going down as he took his touch to end the play.
The pressure paid off on the Union’s fourth corner with Wagner again floating in a perfectly weighted cross that Harriel rose up to meet first and smash into the back of the net that sent the River End wild.
With the game tied late the rivalry tension was on full display with players from both sides making the most of their fouls. With things getting heated yellow cards started to rack up with Wagner and Martinez into the referees book with Amaya joining them.
With the home crowd giving the Boys in Blue that extra bit of energy they sprung another counter attack from deep with Harriel ripping another long ball for Wagner to battle for. The left back was successful and forced a half clearance from his defender that flew right to McGlynn on the counter press. Seeing the advantage on the other side, the homegrown sent a pass to Carranza at the top of the box to release the pressure. A soft pass set up a long-range blast from Harriel that forced a diving stop to from Coronel to keep it 1-1.
Five minutes were added to the end of the 90 minutes to provide another dramatic winner in the rivalry between the Union and Red Bulls. The visitors had the first chance with a set piece opportunity that was served in by Tolkin but cleared away by the Union.
In the waning moments Red Bulls were given another opportunity to break the tie as Amaya drew a yellow card against Bueno to set up a free kick chance from 40 yards out that resulted in nothing.
With penalty kicks looming, Red Bulls substituted Lewis Morgan just before the end of regulation and turned to the midfielder for the first round of the shootout. With a rowdy River End amped up by Andre Blake, the keeper made the diving stop to his right to put the Union in control. After a strong effort on the defensive side of the pitch, Elliott easily rolled it home to make it 1-0 after the first round of kicks from the penalty spot. In the second round both teams converted despite the goalkeepers making the correct decision on their save attempts with Amaya sneaking it under Blake while Uhre saw his effort crash off the keeper’s gloves and into the back of the net. With Philly up 2-1, the third round saw even more drama with Daniel Edelman’s shot crashing off the crossbar while McGlynn saw his shot to his right saved. Red Bull tied up the shootout with a finish from captain Sean Nealis but it was quickly back in the Union’s favor after Carranza converted to conclude the fourth round. John Tolken put the pressure back on the Boys in Blue with a finish in the fifth round but for the second straight Leagues Cup contest it was Bueno stepping up to the spot. Like against D.C. United, Bueno was calm in the spotlight and buried it with a low shot on the ground to send the Boys in Blue into the Leagues Cup Quarterfinal.
