Goals from Danley Jean Jacques and Cavan Sullivan propelled the Union to a 2-0 win over CF Montréal on Saturday at Subaru Park. But while the result provisionally put the Union (7-6-10, 27 points) above the playoff line at the final whistle, it was a pretty ugly contest for most of the night.
The tone was set just two minutes in, when sloppy defending let Montreal put the ball in the net too easily. Fortunately for the hosts, they were let off the hook because former Union winger Fabian Herbers was offside in the buildup.
There was sloppy attacking, too, including Bruno Damiani missing three should-have-scored chances: two in the first quarter-hour and a wide-open look in first-half stoppage time.
In between, the game looked like one between the 12th- and 14th-place teams in the Eastern Conference, instead of one with the home team on a seven-game unbeaten run in league play.
The scoreless first half wasn’t caused by Montréal jamming the Union up, as it has a long history of doing to teams across MLS. This time, the Union did it to themselves: six shots, just one on target, and a 78% pass completion rate.
Jean Jacques finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute with a goal that was no prettier than the rest of the game, but got the job done. Kai Wagner swung a free kick over the 18-yard box from the right flank, it was headed around a few times, and eventually the ball fell to Jean Jacques to push home in traffic.
But the Union nearly threw away the lead eight minutes later. Neil Pierre put his hands into Hennadii Synchuk’s back, Synchuk went down in the box, and referee Chris Penso promptly called a penalty kick. Synchuk stayed down for a while, so the officials had plenty of time to review the call, and they judged it fair.
If you believe in the “ball don’t lie” theory of sports, you’ll appreciate what happened next. But even if you don’t, you’d find Prince Owusu’s penalty attempt shocking. He tried to chip it, and failed so badly that Andre Blake barely had to move to catch the ball.
Ryan Richter made his first substitutions right after that: Quinn Sullivan for Indiana Vassilev and Jesús Bueno for Jovan Lukić.
Cavan Sullivan scored his seventh goal of the year in the 75th, but that play also had its share of flaws.
Damiani sent Iloski on a breakaway after a nifty passing sequence through midfield, only for Iloski to try and fail to dribble around Montréal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza. Fortunately for the Union, Breza spilled the ball, and Sullivan was right there to pounce and hit a first-time shot.
Sullivan celebrated by receiving a bottle of chalk powder, taking a handful, and throwing it in the air LeBron James-style.
In the 82nd, Richter moved to close the game by sending in Alejandro Bedoya and Ezekiel Alladoh for Cavan Sullivan and Iloski. Malik Jakupović was the last sub, replacing Damiani in the 90th.
They did the job, and the Union could move on to a quick turnaround for their next game: Wednesday at home against FC Cincinnati. That will be the first really good team the Union have faced since Inter Miami.
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