Philadelphia Union opened the first leg of the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League with a 1-1 draw in a late night heavyweight battle at Subaru Park.
With all the anticipation of a rematch of the 2022 MLS Cup Final, the opening chapter of the 2023 Concacaf Champions League Semifinal lived up to the hype as the Union’s gritty band of brothers faced off against the star lined California side.
The opening minutes from Subaru Park provided fans an early glimpse of the each sides gameplan for the night. LAFC were more than willing to concede possession and defend on their side of the pitch, forcing the Union to find tight pockets of space to generate chances. The Union countered with the long passing range of their defenders with reigning MLS Defender of the Year Jakob Glesnes hitting long switching diagonal volleys to left back Kai Wagner. The duo combined just two minutes after the opening whistle, with the German left back looking to connect with well-timed run by Julian Carranza into the box but the visitors blocked the pass out of bounds.
With LAFC’s Ilie Sanchez nearly acting as a third center back between Jesus Murillo and Aaron Long, the flanks had the space with the same trio going for an attack moments later but a handball end the opportunity.
Just before 10 minutes had passed in the match, Glesnes added a little something extra with a nutmeg of LAFC’s Denis Bouanga that sent a jolt of energy throughout the crowd and blasted another rope to Wagner. With acres of space to have a look at the situation in front of the opposition’s goal, Wagner went for the far post cross that Daniel Gazdag headed across the face of goal. Unmarked at the post, Carranza redirected the pass but saw it crash off the post. The finish would be removed from the records however with the assistant finding Gazdag offside on the header.
LAFC were more than willing to play direct and on the counter knowing the series was 180 minutes long. Ever the opportunistic team, just past the 20th minute they forced a turnover at the center stripe and went to their leading scorer Bouanga. With a run into the box that got Jack Elliott off balance, Glesnes tracked over to shield a look at goal. The LAFC front man opted for the pass as Kellyn Acosta made a run into the box from the midfield but Olivier Mbaizo saw it coming and beat the U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder to the spot for the quick clearance.
The play brought the visiting side out of their shell and turned the contest more open as they LAFC sought to counter punch. Again looking to Bouanga, the forward drifted into the space occupied by Mbaizo as he joined into the attack. A turnover and LAFC immediately punted it into the space but Glesnes tracked back. With the Norwegian center back preventing an easy shot on Andre Blake, the forward went for the difficult shot but saw his curling effort for the back post go wide.
Just past the half hour the game turned again with the Union pushing into the attack with a trio of quick chances in succession sparked by a hustle play from Mikael Uhre who regained possession after a poor touch. Back with the ball at his feet, the forward raced into the box and saw a 50/50 shot earn a set piece chance for the Boys in Blue. Wagner’s service was cleared out by the visitors with the Union pushed forward for the corner, they went onto the attack with a diagonal ball to Opoku Kwadwo that drifted over the touch line. Philly got it back into play and put LAFC on their heels going for the very high offside trap. Carranza timed his run spot on but Wagner’s long ball over the top was inches over the Argentinian’s leap. Philly was back at it just moments later with homegrown Jack McGlynn getting to the end line and cutting back a pass across the face of goal that was just behind Carranza.
The West coast side weren’t eager to get play resumed with the referee pointing to his watch multiple times in the opening half. Forced to throw it back into the field of play, the Union pounced on the soft throw, going direct with Carranza seeing Uhre on the right side of the center stripe and going direct. Uhre beat Murillo and dribbled into the box where former Union goalkeeper John McCarthy kept the match scoreless with the reaction save.
The rivalry between the two sides was on display just before the half with Glesnes and Carlos Vela colliding that led to an exchange of pleasantries and the referees having to separate both sides. The first half wasn’t done with highlights though with end to end action during stoppage time. First came LAFC on the attack with Vela cutting the ball inside and finding Opoku just inside the Union’s 18. Looking to unleash a shot, Glesnes used every bit of his 6’2” frame to block the shot from getting a foot from the LAFC attacker’s boot.
After the big block, the Union once again got it forward to Uhre as he backed down Murillo just outside the box. Collecting possession, he boxed out the center back and allowed a run from Carranza to take it right off the Dane’s boot and get into the box. Carranza unleashed a left-footed blast that McCarthy’s pushed aside to keep things even going into the break.
LAFC turned to their wealth of big name signings to start the second half with former Leeds United winger Mateusz Bogusz coming on at the break. The Union continued to utilize the size and strength of Uhre atop the front line as he continued to battle with Murillo. After a pair of half chances by both sides, the Union got the first pristine chance of the half in the 58th minute. Building from the back, Elliott quickly got possession to McGlynn who unleashed a rope over the LAFC defense to send Carranza into space. A little to wide for his liking, the forward cut to his right and faked a shot to get a little more space before ripping a right footed shot just off the grass. McCarthy again made the tough save and spilled the rebound right into the path of Gazdag for the tap in goal. The celebrations were short lived however as the assistant referee quickly raised his flag for offside.
The Union continued to push for the goal in front of The River End with a pair of corner kick chances from Wagner getting cleared just in time. Just past the hour mark a clearance fell to LAFC’s biggest name Carlos Vela who led a one man attack down the middle of the pitch. Mbaizo made the full field recovery run and timed a tackle with the forward atop the Union’s box to put an end to any chance before it could become dangerous.
The 66th minute saw LAFC get a chance to test Andre Blake in the cooling temperatures and they were reminded why the Union’s goalkeeper is the best in MLS. Building up the right side, the visitors pulled Wagner up the field and attack behind him Jose Cifuentes. As Elliott raced to his left, it put the Union in a precarious position as Bouanga snuck behind Glesnes and connected with his teammate’s cross into the box. Looking to just redirect the ball into the back of the net, Blake displaying remarkable hand eye coordination to get a glove up at the exact time and then recover when Bouanga attempted to score on the rebound.
Lifted by the crowd and the big stop by Blake, the Union continued to pepper the ball into the LAFC box and attack on the wings with forward runs from Wagner, Carranza and Mbaizo. LAFC bent multiple times and wouldn’t budge in the toughest of circumstances.
With just over 10 minutes remaining Curtin turned to his substitutes bringing on fresh legs in the form of Leon Flach and Quinn Sullivan after Martinez and Uhre had emptied their tanks.
In the 82nd minute the Union got their chance with a quick turnover seeing the Union appealing for a handball after Jack McGlynn’s shot rang off Kellyn Acosta. After a stoppage in play, the referee was summoned by the Video Assistant Referee to the center line. 30 seconds later he had pointed to the spot and flashed a yellow for the infringement.
172 days after seeing his shot sail over the crossbar in MLS Cup Final, Gazdag got his redemption sending the keeper the wrong way with a smooth right-footed finish to send the River End into a frenzy and have Subaru Park shaking on a Wednesday night.
With the important lead at home, the Union knew the visitors would push to an equalizer. Fueled by the crowd for that added jolt of energy, the Union remained compacted as LAFC sought to work the ball side to side. However the visitors would capitalize as an unfortunate clearance crashed off the Union’s goalscorer and immediately give LAFC possession in a dangerous area. A quick cross into the box from substitute Timothy Tillman snuck through and connected with Acosta in the first minute of stoppage time to make it a 1-1 scoreline.
The Union continued to push until the final whistle, with Alejandro Bedoya fouled just outside the box to set up on final scoring chance. With five in the wall, McGlynn went for the upper corner with a curler that spun just a little too much to dip down and into the keeper’s gloves.
The two sides will face off once again next week as the Semifinals shift to Los Angeles for the second leg of this MLS showdown. Kick off from LA is set for 10 p.m. ET with the match broadcast once again on FS1 and TUDN.
