Union pleased with scoreless draw

Philly opens season with 4 points in first two games

In the new mindset that manager Jim Curtin is trying to impart to his players, Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Columbus first and foremost represented two points dropped on home soil.

But on a day when the most basic or consequential game actions were hard to come by — much less anything worth a superlative — there’s a flipside to the disappointment against a team that made the last Eastern Conference final last season and won its first two games of 2018.

“Columbus is a good team, and I think if it was last year, we would lose this game,” midfielder Haris Medunjanin said. “And now I think we made a step forward and I think we played as a team. We pressed them as much as we can, and it was a little bit difficult because the pitch was a little bit slow for us and for them, too, but I think if it was a little bit luckier, we could score, but this is how it is.”

In the early going of the season, that perspective retains value. So Saturday’s work-in-progress vibe during a mind-numbing draw isn’t necessarily cause for concern. The benefit of the Union (1-0-1, 4 points) keeping a second consecutive clean sheet to start the season is an unmitigated positive for a young defense. And it’s worth remembering that it took the Union eight games last season to match the four points they’ve collected in two games this season. All-inall, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

“Overall, probably not the most exciting game for people to watch, a lot of little things and tactical battles going on in the run of play, and neither team really created a ton of chances,” manager Jim Curtin said. “But again, it’s early in the season. I still think we had a couple of good looks. … But a point against a top team, I think, in the East, a team that’s organized and a team that is disciplined, a team that passes the ball better than any team in our league.”

Borek Dockal slotted in perfectly to the indifferent ethos of the day. The Czech designated player made his debut, starting and logging 77 minutes. He had a pair of shots, both well wide of the target from near the top of the penalty area, and no key passes.

It appeared that Dockal, who’s only been with the Union for three weeks and training fully for one, settled in as the game progressed. His task as a No. 10 is complicated, where he has to read the game and synthesize the best answer that fits a particular player’s tendencies and situation, so it should be no surprise that he’s not exactly plug-and-play.

So once again, not bad but not exactly great either — which all involved freely admitted.

“It can always be better,” Dockal said. “My performance definitely can be better. But I have to start at some point, and it would actually be a miracle if I played an excellent game today. … And as a team I feel we can play better also. It was not a bad game.”

“It’s very difficult,” Medunjanin said. “He trained for us for one week and he had a break with his team in China, so it was difficult. When you come to a new team, you need some time. But I think he tried his best, he had a couple of good moments and I think we will see a lot of good moments from him. We are happy that he’s here. We try to help him every game to make him feel comfortable.”

The attacking high points were few and far between. Columbus (2-0-1, 7 points) outshot the Union, 11-9, each team finding the target three times, easily gobbled up by Zack Steffen and Andre Blake.

Medunjanin troubled Steffen with a one-hopped free kick in the 21st minute. David Accam turned a pair of defenders at the top of the box, but didn’t get much on a shot in the 50th that Steffen handled. And Alejandro Bedoya’s glancing header off a 53rd-minute corner was well-timed but unfortunately right at the mitts of Steffen.

Gyasi Zardes, who fired his two best looks wide of the cage, troubled Blake twice, and a volley by Harrison Afful from 20 yards just before halftime was fought off by Blake.

The defensive performance affirmed what Curtin hopes to see from that unit, much more than the opening clean sheet against a New England team that played with 10 men most of the way.

“Every clean sheet is a clean sheet, but yes playing against (Columbus) with 11 men definitely gives you more confidence with them having beaten Toronto and Montreal and scoring five goals already,” center back Jack Elliott said. “It’s good for us and hopefully we can keep going forward with that.”

In the third week of the season, even that low bar is far ahead of where they Union were a season ago, and that progress is reason to hope.

“Overall, a point, haven’t conceded a goal yet,” Curtin said. “So there’s some positives but there’s still a lot of work to do.”