The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
A point on the road always is a good thing
Union extend unbeaten streak to five games
The first installment of the Union’s third shot at an MLS season started with a job done Thursday, if not all that impressively so.
The Union ground out a 0-0 draw in New England in the first game of the rest of the MLS regular season, extending its regular-season unbeaten streak to five games (2-0-3).
The sedate affair didn’t have more than a smattering of chances either way, but that was fine for the Union (2-1-3, 9 points) and their increasingly steady defense. In their first scoreless draw in more than a year (May 19, 2019 against Seattle), the Union kept a third clean sheet in nine outings in all competitions this season. They managed just five shutouts in 36 games last year, defensive shortcomings the clear Achilles heel in an otherwise stellar 2019.
“A point on the road is always a good thing, but we know we didn’t play our best tonight,” manager Jim Curtin said. “We needed guys to step up due to injury. We needed to use our bench a little more than we usually do. And I think our guys did put a lot of effort and fight in for the fight that we got.”
This time, Andre Blake wasn’t required to be spectacular as he was for much of the MLS Is Back tournament on the way to the Golden Gloves Award. He made just one save, albeit a stellar one in the ninth minute on Gustavo Bou. The Revs hit the post four minutes later via Adam Buksa, getting the better of play early, but more often than not, their chances were snuffed out before they materialized.
Mark McKenzie and Jack Elliott were excellent in the center, doing so despite being saddled by yellow cards in the 50th and 53rd minutes, respectively. Matt Real stepped in for Kai Wagner, who missed out with a leg contusion. Wagner suffered a training knock in a tackle with Alejandro Bedoya last week; an x-ray on the leg that he fractured in the preseason came back negative, but an MRI showed damage near the old injury site, though Curtin doesn’t believe it will be a long-term issue.
The Drexel Hill native and Union Homegrown Real even added one of the better scoring chances with a drive from 30 yards out that was padded away by Matt Turner in 56th minute. Olivier Mbaizo made his first appearance of 2020, getting the last 14 minutes at right back with Ray Gaddis shifted to the left.
Their efforts included nine successful corner kicks defended, allowing the Revs hardly a clean look at goal. It was an all-around solid, workmanlike performance.
“To New England’s credit, they pushed four guys up high into our backline,” Curtin said. “They approached it a little different and it gave us some issues for sure. Having said that, we gave up a couple of clear-cut chances early in the game, I think we settled down in the second half quite a bit. It’s a sign of progress that Andre’s not making eight, nine saves like he was in Orlando many times.”
The Union leave an empty Foxborough with many of the game’s best chances. Turner, who made five saves, sprawled to his right to deny Kacper Przybylko on a counter attack in the 36th minute, Brenden Aaronson slipping him in behind the defense. The duo reversed roles in the 54th, and Aaronson forced Turner to charge off his line and make himself big in front of goal.
“I think they defended very well tonight,” Aaronson said of the Revs. “I think it was hard for us to break them down, but I think there are points where it just needed to be cleaner in the final third.”
Like some of the results the Union got in Orlando, it’s not the way they would’ve wanted to get there, but the point away from home against a conference rival is nonetheless valuable.
“It was just a little bit off on the night and our team wasn’t as sharp as we wanted to be,” Curtin said. “But credit to the guys for sticking together. On a bad night, good teams get a point, and we did that.”