Burke’s goal holds up in 1-0 win over Red Bulls

CHESTER >> The Union addressed one of its big bugaboos this season. Another persists.

They combined to make Saturday night’s 1-0 win over New York Red Bulls exciting but unnecessarily so. For the first time in six MLS games, the Union scored a first-half goal, courtesy of Cory Burke in the ninth minute.

But for the umpteenth time, they allowed a preponderance of chances to go begging when they could’ve closed a game out early. And it took a second-half scuffle that netted Dru Yearwood his second yellow card for the Union to actually feel victorious.

Style points, though, don’t factor into the table. On whatever fumes they used to cross the finish line of seven games in 22 days and nine in 31, the Union (2-2-2, 8 points) notched seven points in a three-game week, a return that has them tied with four others atop the Eastern Conference.

Particularly against a Red Bulls team that presses well, early goals are vital. Both teams play similarly, most dangerous when they have less of the ball and more space to operate off turnovers.

For evidence of that, there was the expert-level rope-adope they played in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League against Atlanta United.

On Saturday, they finally showed that in league play.

“We’re a team that needs to play from ahead,” Jim Curtin said. “We’re not built to come back and score multiple goals and chase the game. We’re built to score first, defend very well as a team, and as teams open up, we can pick them off that way.”

Two Red Bull defenders crashed into each other contesting a second ball off an Andre Blake goal kick in the ninth. That allowed the Union to spring forward against Kyle Duncan, the last man back. Jamiro Monteiro threaded a pass behind the right back, and Burke ran onto it. With Carlos Coronel a touch hesitant off his line, Burke pounced to pop one over the sliding Spaniard for his second goal of the season.

“We worked on that, as coach said,” Burke said. “We executed it today well. It started from the kickoff and we got a flick on, and I didn’t stop. I followed on the run and when I saw Jamiro with the ball, I showed him exactly where I wanted to play the ball and he played it right there and it was a great finish.”

It was a much more fluid first half from the Union all around. With Anthony Fontana restored to the No. 10, Monteiro dropping deeper and Sergio Santos pairing Burke up top, the Union created seven shots. Coronel, who spent the first six months of 2019 on loan with the Union from Red Bull Salzburg and played four league games, denied a Fontana shot off a Santos layoff in the 25th. He also gloved a rising Kai Wagner attempt in the 45th.

The Union’s chance-wasting accelerated after the break. While the Union had 13 attempts, the same as the Red Bulls, they had far more final-third entries that frittered away with the wrong final pass. Even as they experimented with Kacper Przybylko on as the No. 10 behind Burke and Santos, the setups continued but finishes remained elusive.

“I thought we had a very strong performance, in particular the first half,” Curtin said. “We could’ve found maybe more ways to get the second goal. Still have to work on our movement in the box. We had cutbacks when we should’ve had shots, and our movement hasn’t been the best.”

Duncan supplied a crucial block on Santos when he looked to be in on goal in the 50th minute. Sean Davis did the same on Fontana minutes later, then again on a Santos drive outside the box. Alejandro Bedoya came the closest with an actual shot, Coronel batting away his attempt in the 86th after the Union captain had twice gone down with cramping and looked to seal the points and his own exit.

The Red Bulls didn’t trouble Blake with a shot in the first half, though Fabio and Daniel Royer both flashed headers wide on dangerous corners. In all, the Red Bulls (2-3-0, 6 points) won 12 corner kicks but produced precious little, with just one shot on target.

“We’re still going to play our game once we score,” defender Jack Elliott said. “Obviously our game works best when the other team has to come out and play against us and try to break us down and we can catch them on counter attacks and things like that.”

The two most dangerous New York chances were nonchances on the score sheet. Sub Patrick Klimala flashed a shot across the face of goal within a yard of the line and Blake beaten, close enough that a stiff breeze would’ve knocked it home, but there were no takers. Wagner slid to block a Klimala attempt in the 70th, then Blake made his only save in the 88th, his left hand denying Klimala at the near post.

Yearwood got his marching orders in the first minute of stoppage time. Omri Fernandez objected to a foul by Leon Flach, excellent again at the No. 6. It devolved into a shoving match, with Flach seeing yellow, as did Yearwood, a late entry to the fracas who sent Flach flying with a two-hander. The Red Bulls finished with nine men after U.S. national team defender Aaron Long hobbled off, needing assistance to the locker room.

One goal despite so many chances, Curtin said, was understandable, given the lack of practice time. Far more consequential was a sixth clean sheet in all competitions this year, three in MLS.

“To be at .500 right now is a good spot to be in,” Curtin said. “I think we’ll only get better as the year goes on, as a player or two comes in as well.”