Red card leads to second straight home loss
CHESTER » With one foot in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals, the Philadelphia Union talked this week about not having one eye on Tuesday’s second leg against Atlanta.
It was more than placement of Jose Martinez’s arm that caused consternation Saturday night.
Martinez’s yellow card in the 16th minute and goals either side of halftime by Jesus Medina and Valentine Castellanos means the Union’s view turned quickly to Tuesday night after a 2-0 mauling by New York City FC.
After winning all nine of its home games in 2020, the Union (0-2-1, 1 point) have now dropped consecutive home games in the league. It’s the first time they’ve lost two straight home games since July 7 and 21, 2018.
Martinez’s red card required a visit to video review, but referee Ismail Elfath took mere moments at the monitor to brandish his red card. Martinez got his marching orders for delivering a forearm to the face of Castellanos as the forward fell under the weight of what was originally a yellow-card challenge by the Venezuelan midfielder.
“There will obviously be a conversation tomorrow, and it’ll be a hard and a firm conversation,” Curtin said about Martinez. “And it’s necessary. The biggest thing is he let his teammates down and made them run around extra for 80 minutes.”
It’s the Union’s first red card since April 20, 2019 (Kai Wagner), a run of 55 MLS games, including the MLS Is Back tournament and the MLS Cup playoffs.
Few teams are worse to go down a man to than New York City FC (2-1-0, 6 points), which has the skill to hold the ball for long stretches. The result Saturday was 66.9 percent possession, a 23-4 edge in shots and 7-0 in attempts on target.
The Union were already on the backfoot thanks to a quick concession. Maxi Moralez’s name isn’t on the opening goal, but he won two key duels in midfield against Martinez and Jamiro Monteiro to launch the attack. The ball filtered out to Medina and Anton Tinnerholm, whose cutback to Medina was deposited into the net behind Andre Blake for the visitors’ 1-0 lead.
It could’ve been 2-0 on the half hour if not for Blake, who leapt to spectacularly deny Moralez’s deflected shot from outside the box. Moralez had another go in the 50th with a clean drive from 28 yards, but Blake rose a glove to tip it over the bar.
When NYC finally did double its lead, it was via a gift from Jakob Glesnes, who attempted to chest a ball back to Blake inside the six-yard box. His pass was well short of the goalie, and Castellanos pounced to put it home.
Castellanos could’ve had three goals on a more resolute finishing night from the Union killer. He headed several great chances over the bar and spurned a golden chance in the 20th off Tinnerholm service.
As for the Union, Curtin made three changes to his starting lineup from Tuesday’s historic 3-0 win in Atlanta. All three of the displaced starters – Kacper Przybylko, Leon Flach and Kai Wagner – subbed in at the hour mark like a shift change at the factory. That’s an indication that Curtin is already preparing for what, at this juncture of the season, is the clear priority for his team.
“We always want to take three points when we step on the home field, no matter who’s on the field, no matter how we sub or change,” Curtin said. “But I will say our focus and the most important thing is Champions League. Getting to the final four of that competition trumps the third game of a season. It just does.”