5-star performance brings Union into the playoffs

Style points don’t count in the MLS, but the Bronx’s loss on Wednesday night certainly did.

The Union surrounded the bases and the helpless defense of New York City FC in a 5-1 victory at Yankee Stadium, catapulting themselves into a playoff spot in the East.

The Union (8-12-9, 33 points) jumped the playoff line in ninth place with five games remaining. They are three points behind eighth-place Toronto but have one game less. Thanks to the loss, the Union are also fifth in the conference in goal differential.

Five different goal scorers made the difference. The attacking trio of Tai Baribo, Mikael Uhre and Daniel Gazdag scored one goal in 17 minutes in the first half and took control. Jakob Glesnes and Jesus Bueno rounded off the result with goals.

Baribo opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he scored his eighth league goal of the season with a header. After a cleared corner, he stayed in the right corner and Olivier Mbaizo cleared with a header and provided the assist.

Baribo, who almost scored two minutes later after receiving a pass from Uhre, provided the assist in the 25th minute after a poor loss of possession by NYCFC. Uhre shot to the left and Baribo fed him, and the Dane fired it across the goal into the corner of the net.

The Union got help from an old friend on the third goal. Former Homegrown Matt Freese, who has been outstanding this season, dropped a Baribo header in the 32nd minute. It fell right to the feet of Gazdag, who fired it home for his 15th goal of the season.

Between goals two and three, Union had to make a save against a goalkeeper, something they have done far too rarely this year. Andrew Rick, filling in for the injured Andre Blake for the second game in a row, managed to block an attempt by Keaton Parks with his hand. Parks’ attempt went straight at the goalkeeper, but it was still a great save that led to an almost immediate goal.

The 18-year-old Rick scored his best goal as a professional with seven saves. But he had no chance on the last shot of the first half, an unnecessarily small concession by the Union. With no pressure on left-back Kevin O’Toole, Alonso Martinez released Nathan Harriel, who was stepping in as a center-back, received the cross and buried it in the six-yard box to reduce the deficit to 3-1.

He made up for it in the second half when NYCFC (11-11-7, 40 points) increased the pressure.

Parks, who was completely unlucky, slammed a shot against the post in the 62nd minute. In the 60th minute, Rick had saved a curler from Mitja Ilenic that landed inside the post. Rick’s best save came in the 66th minute when Mounsef Bakrar surprised Harriel in his sleep and blocked a shot with the toe of his foot that Rick cleared off the line.

Rick scored against Ilenic in the 82nd minute, a minute after a Parks shot was cleared off the line by a Glesnes header.

This came after Glesnes had sealed the game with Union’s fourth goal in the 74th minute, hammering home a corner kick off an assist from Kai Wagner, his 50th assist of his MLS career.

After several substitutions, Sam Adeniran initiated a counterattack in the 85th minute, passing first to Quinn Sullivan and then to Bueno, who scored his third goal of the season.

Originally published: September 18, 2024 at 22:00