Picault, Santos stepped up at against Red Bulls
CHESTER » Fafa Picault saw the clock ticking, same as the other 18,539 occupants of Talen Energy Stadium. His restlessness, though, may have exceeded most of those in the stands Sunday.
As Picault warmed up with the Philadelphia Union substitutes, he was what coach Jim Curtin would describe as a good kind of mad. A striker’s fire burns in the 28-yearold, and when he’s not in the starting lineup, he’s out to prove that he should be. Add the motivation of trailing the New York Red Bulls in the Union’s first home playoff game in eight years, in search of the first playoff win in franchise history, and that fire became a roaring blaze Sunday.
“As you see the clock winding down, you start looking at your season coming to an end,” Picault said. “And you start giving everything and pour it out.”
The Union substitutes changed the playoff game, and while Marco Fabian grabbed the winner in a
4-3 classic, you could argue Picault did just as much to decide it. When you combine his contributions with those of Sergio Santos, making his first start in nearly four months, you have a perfect encapsulation of what the Union have been this year.
Look no further than Picault, whose speed is only enhanced by the chip he carries on his shoulder. In three seasons, he’s got 21 goals and
12 assists in MLS, one of the most prolific outputs of any American, particularly wingers. Yet he still feels underappreciated across the league.
While stung, Picault’s absence is mainly due to tactics. He’s not the ideal fit for the 4-4-2 diamond the Union have used, which in part contributes to a drop from 10 goals and five assists in 2018 to four and four. But Picault’s greatest ability might be in transmuting that hurt into fuel.
“It’s frustrating and rewarding,” Picault said. “Obviously I didn’t want to be on the bench on a day like today, but my job is in whatever minutes I get to come on and make a difference, and I tried to do that tonight. … I’m always going to give everything for Jim. He’s been a good coach, I believe he trusts me and I always want to prove him right when I’m on the field.”
Make a difference, he did. In 48 minutes, he peppered Red Bulls with four shots, three on target. He got the equalizer in the 78th, leaping over Tim Parker to pummel a header into the back of the net. He could’ve won the game in second-half stoppage time if not for a brilliant save by Luis Robles.
Then in the 105th, Picault’s footwork on the edge of the box unlatched the defense. He should’ve drawn a free kick when his attempted cross clearly struck Aaron Long’s arm, but referee Chris Penso either didn’t see it or didn’t care.
Picault didn’t let up, reacting quicker to switch the field for Fabian’s deflected shot that was the winner.
“Our roster is a deep one,” Curtin said. “I don’t think a lot of teams in our league can go and bring an Ilsinho, a Fafa Picault, and a Marco Fabian off the bench, and they all impact the game in the way that they do.”
Santos illustrated that depth. The Union were in a week-long holding pattern on the health of Kacper Przybylko, MLS’s fifth-leading scorer who found out after a setback Thursday that the stress reaction in his left foot wasn’t fit enough to play.
So in stepped two players in their first seasons in MLS: Santos, the TAM signing before the season, and Andrew Wooten, acquired in June after 17 goals with SV Sandhausen in the German 2.Bundesliga. The pairing hadn’t started a game together and had logged just 14 competitive minutes in tandem, all in Wooten’s debut in July. Santos, who has suffered a succession of leg injuries, hadn’t started since June 26. Together, they accumulated just 974 minutes, scoring four goals and two assists … a far cry from the 15 and four compiled by Przybylko.
While Wooten struggled and was the first Union player subbed off, Santos got better as the game progressed. His header off a Haris Medunjanin corner kick rattled the bar in the 52nd, with Jack Elliott heading home the ricochet to get the Union within 3-2. And it was Santos’ cross that Picault buried in the 78th.
“He worked his butt off,” Picault said of Santos. “He’s an ox. He’s going to fight and he also has that hunger, and I appreciate that. He gave them problems all night.”
“We’ve known about it all year,” Alejandro Bedoya added. “The guy’s a tank. In the weight room, he barely lifts a weight but he’s strong as hell. … I think Sergio was able to use his speed a lot and his strength, and he did a lot of great things holding the ball up for us.”
Picault and Santos are just two examples of what Curtin has praised in his group. For Santos to play 103 minutes Sunday after logging just 64 in the previous 12 games, for Picault to set aside any ego and do what the team needed, it’s a testament to the team dynamic Curtin has created.
“It’s the sort of game where you need your subs to come in and make an impact, and that’s exactly what we had today,” Elliott said. “That’s one of the things that got us over the line. Everyone that came on, everyone on the bench, everyone in the reserves, everyone in the club has put a lot into this season and this game in particular. It’s incredible and the sort of things you need at this point of the season.”