Blake comes up big on sole shot in draw
It took 92 minutes for the Union and FC Cincinnati to find a shot on target Wednesday night. It took one tremendous play by Andre Blake in the only salvageable passage of play from an otherwise forgettable night for the Union to cart a point back home.
Blake’s diving save on Joe Gyau in the second minute of stoppage time denied the only shot on target by either side, giving the Union its sixth MLS clean sheet of the season in a scoreless draw.
It’s the Union’s second scoreless stalemate of the season and the fourth for FC Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium. For the seventh time in franchise history – and first since July 13,
2019 – the Union went without a shot on goal, a dearth of attacking zest that manager Jim Curtin apologized to the fans in his press conference.
But the defense and Blake’s saving powers were enough to rescue a point in the club’s second road game in four days.
“Not the beautiful game, that’s for sure,” Curtin said. “Credit to Cincinnati: They made it difficult for us. We knew with them putting 10 men behind the ball, it would be a struggle to break them down. It was a challenge that we didn’t execute well enough to get a goal, to then have to open up the game and make them change a little bit.”
The Union (7-2-4, 25 points) failed to keep pace with Eastern Conference leader Columbus, which beat Minnesota on a night when all 26 MLS teams were in action. The Union join Toronto FC and Orlando City at
25 points, slipping to third on the total goals tiebreaker. The
Union are 5-1-2 since the end of the MLS Is Back tournament and have just one loss in their last 12 league games.
Blake’s momentous turn came as Cincinnati (3-6-4, 13 points) started to create chances late, a relative oasis in an attacking desert of a game. Off a Haris Medunjanin free kick in the 88th, Jose Martinez slid at the near post to clear a downward header by Kendall Waston off the line that appeared destined for the back of the net.
Four minutes later, Gyau found space down the left wing, and while Mark McKenzie closed him down, the winger got off a shot across the face of goal that Blake got his left glove to to parry around the post. It was the only one of the hosts’ seven shots to find the frame.
“That’s a huge save because it had the feeling on the bench of one of those nights where they make a play at the end and steal it,” Curtin said. “That’s the difficult part about being a goalkeeper. We’ve done a really good job in the last five or six weeks of protecting Dre and not giving up a tone of chances. But tonight when he was called upon, he made a world-class save to save a point for us.”
“You have to be focused the whole time because it’s enough with one chance in the end – and they had one – but Andre was fantastic in saving us and saving me, because they turned me around and they got a big chance,” Glesnes said. “Dre was fantastic like always.”
The shutout is Blake’s sixth of the season in all competitions. He was helped by Cincinnati striker Jurgen Locadia misfiring on a great chance at the far post in the 61st minute, with his defender beaten to get to an Allan Cruz cross.
The Union had six shots, all off target. The closest effort was by substitute Sergio Santos, who created space in the 78th minute and whistled a shot wide of the far post.
Both of the Union’s firsthalf attempts were from well outside the box by Martinez, returning to the lineup after a one-game suspension, that were roughly in the zip code of Spencer Richey’s goal. It shouldn’t have been surprising from the hosts, who’ve been rebuilt under Dutch in
ternational central defender Jaap Stam as a defense-first team after setting the record for most goal conceded in a season (75) in 2019.
The point came at a cost for the Union, as Alejandro Bedoya’s 59th minute yellow card is his fifth of the season. He’ll be suspended for Sunday’s visit from Inter Miami. Ray Gaddis left the game with what looks to be an exacerbation of the hamstring issue that kept him out of last Sunday’s win over Montreal. Kai Wagner, who’s missed the last four games, made the bench.
It wasn’t the best game from the Union, but it was still worth a point in the standings.
“Overall, they were organized on the night,” Curtin said. “With the short rest, with the turf, overall a zero on the road is a positive. But again, not our sharpest with the ball, and that’s something we need to work on and improve going into Miami.”