Przybylko punishes shorthanded D.C. in romp
With D.C. United’s injuries and the Philadelphia Union’s form, the odds heavily favored the hosts at Subaru Park Saturday night.
What transpired, however, was a comprehensive thumping beyond any expectations.
Kacper Przybylko scored twice in the first half and added the helper on Brenden Aaronson’s second-half tally, and Sergio Santos also scored in a first-half rampage as the Union ran away with a 4-1 result.
The Union (4-1-3, 15 points) are unbeaten in seven MLS matches (4-03). They move into third place in the East ahead of Wednesday’s trip to secondplace Columbus. The Union have won seven straight games and are 9-1-1 in the last 11 against D.C. United. They’ve outscored the MLS original by a 22-5 margin in that time.
D.C. United came north with a depleted roster, three bodies shy of a full bench. They named just three defenders, with first-choice center backs Steven Birnbaum (bone bruise) and Frederic Brillant (ankle) late absences. Goalie Bill Hamid missed out due to personal reasons, meaning Union original Chris Seitz started.
Despite those absences, manager Jim Curtin cautioned his team not to take them lightly.
“Overall, a night where we needed a disciplined, professional performance, and we got that from the guys,” Curtin said. “Obviously when the lineup came out, D.C. was missing some players, but we warned the guys there’s no easy games in this league. If you take a team lightly, they will punish you. Really happy with how they started the game.”
“It’s always tough seeing them come out with a different lineup that maybe you don’t expect, maybe they’re going to sit back or something,” Aaronson said. “You can take things lightly sometimes, but Jim did a great job pointing that out for us. And Ale (Bedoya) and the older guys did a great job of talking about that.”
The Union wasted no time in pouncing leading 3-0 after 21 minutes, the fastest three goals to start a game in franchise history. Przybylko got it started in the seventh, parked at the far post on a corner kick. When Jamiro Monteiro’s offering was flicked on by Bedoya’s darting near-post run, Przybylko was all by his lonesome, just a tap-in needed from three yards out.
He doubled the lead more stylishly in the 16th. Kai Wagner drew the defense’s attention by marauding down the left wing. The ball was partially cleared to the top of the 18 to Przybylko, who took a touch on his left foot to get to his favored right and curl a delicate shot past a diving Seitz.
Przybylko, scorer of 15 goals last year, had been mired in a mini-slump by his standards with five goal-less outings, but now has three in his last two games.
“What that gives is confidence,” Curtin said of Przybylko’s slump-buster against Red Bulls Tuesday. “Now you see he gets his second goal today off a restart, which was important, and you see his class on that finish. That’s a goal anywhere. The way he strikes that ball is clinical. Really happy for Kacper. What he does is score goals. We know that. … He played a great game tonight, he dominated and that’s what great strikers in this league do.”
Przybylko, as is his wont, deflected credit while never shirking away from responsibility.
“In Orlando and in all the other games, there were other players that scored goals and it shows how much quality we have in the team,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter who’s scoring the goals. What matters the most is collecting points and recently we’ve been doing a great job of that.”
Santos added to D.C.’s misery. With the game stretched, the Brazilian forward dashed up the left wing, and Jose Martinez found him in open acreage with a superb ball from deep in midfield. Santos made quick work, burying a near-side, rising missile that Seitz only watched bulge the roof of the net.
It wasn’t all smiles for the Union in the first half. Andre Blake had to make two saves in quick succession in the 12th minute, stretching to parry a Yamil Asad effort, then palming a bounced header by defender Axel Sjoberg on the ensuing corner. It took a daring recovery run from Wagner, after D.C. forward Ola Kamara turned fellow Norwegian Jakob Glesnes inside-out, to stop a dangerous counter. The price for the German left back was a leg injury that forced him out in the 27th minute, though Curtin said it was out of an abundance of caution and that Wagner “probably could’ve finished the game.”
The hosts finally made it 4-0 in the 61st, when an Olivier Mbaizo ball pierced the D.C. defense and Przybylko teed up a cross for Aaronson to one-time through Seitz’s legs. Just minutes earlier, a similar ball from Przybylko led to Santos hitting the post.
The Union’s quest for a third straight shutout ended two minutes later, with a counter attack starting on the left side of defense ending up on the foot of right winger Julian Gressel, who powered a shot off Blake’s gloves and in, ending the Union’s shutout streak at 263 minutes in all competitions.
But against a hobbled opponent, the Union did what it needed to do, and then some.
“I think we did our jobs tonight,” Curtin said, “and got our three points at home.”
NOTES » Mbaizo started at right back, his first start in league play since May 1, 2019. In the process, Ray Gaddis failed to start a league game for the first time since Sept. 28, 2018. The Union’s center back rotation, which involved Glesnes and Jack Elliott starting, meant Mark McKenzie missed his first minutes of the season. … The Union are 14-8-4 all-time against D.C. United.