Tie is a win for Union in world of CONCACAF
CHESTER » In the year 2021, the Philadelphia Union are one of the four best club teams in CONCACAF.
It’s a sentence that a few years ago would’ve seemed shocking. Tuesday night, it was made to look fairly comfortable.
The Union drew with Atlanta United, 1-1, in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal. With a 4-1 aggregate score, the Union are moving on, then, to the semifinals in the club’s first participation in international soccer.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the players,” manager Jim Curtin said. “We’re into the final four of this continent, which sounds crazy and everyone kind of has to pinch themselves in the locker room and in the stands. The fans should be proud of our team.”
The Union generated more chances and dangerous opportunities but trailed at halftime thanks to Santiago Sosa’s goal in first-half stoppage time. But they pushed effectively in the second half to prevent Atlanta mounting a charge for a second goal. After a boatload of chances, Kacper Przybylko finally put one away in the 88th, off a feed from Cory Burke, the fourth straight CCL game in which Przybylko scored.
The first leg of the Union’s semifinal, against the winner of the Portland Timbers and Club America, will happen between Aug. 10-12. The second leg is Sept. 14-16. The Union remain unbeaten in the competition, 3-0-1, scoring nine times against one goal conceded, with Curtin admitting staying alive in CONCACAF Champions takes precedence over early-season MLS games.
“It’s huge, we continue to make history, onto the semifinals,” captain Alejandro
Bedoya said after another understated but brilliant performance. “We’re one of the best four teams in the region, you could say that. I think it’s fantastic for everyone involved at the club, great effort from the guys. Atlanta’s a good team, and we were able to take their punch there and counter.”
The Union were on the other side of the equation in the first leg, getting barraged by Atlanta in the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium but able to get to halftime without conceding. That was the platform to launch an all-out assault in the second half and rampage out as 3-0 winners.
Tuesday, chances went begging from the beginning, starting with Anthony Fontana’s blocked shot in the first minute. Sergio Santos pulled a shot wide in the sixth, Olivier Mbaizo’s shot rippled the side netting in the 11th and Fontana rolled one wide in the 45th. Brad Guzan made three saves in the first half, the most difficult a routine catch of a Mbaizo drive from the top of the box in the 36th.
“I thought that the first 20 minutes was really, really strong,” Curtin said. “We knew it would be important against a very good athletic team to start the game with a right mentality and right mindset. Our intensity was good. We had four or five really good looks in that first 20 minutes.”
Atlanta’s first shot was the only one it would need in the first half. Marcelino Moreno played an innocent looking ball down the left wing into the feet of Sosa. Leon Flach, playing the No. 6 role for the suspended Jose Martinez, cheated upfield for the pass. Instead, Sosa turned toward goal, opened up his hips and right-footed a shot past a diving Andre Blake.
It was the exception for Flach, who was excellent again, this time in a new position for the Union but one he knows well.
“It’s his most comfortable position, he would tell you, and tonight made it clear that he can do it,” Curtin said. “That’s for sure. I’m really proud of Leon. He’s come into a new team as a very young kid. His ability to recognize what the game needs in certain moments, when to speed it up, when to slow it down, is excellent.”
Overall, Atlanta had 69.3 percent of the possession, but the Union had a 22-9 edge in shots and a 5-4 edge in shots on target, including a bevy of dangerous counters. Atlanta sold out on a handful of shot blocks to keep pace, and even in second-half stoppage time, Guzan pushed a golden chance by Burke wide of the post.
In addition to addressing a dust-up with rival coach and former Argentine national teamer Gabriel Heinze, Curtin knows his team was the better side over the two legs. That Heinze spat was built around what Curtin felt was disrespect for his team. With each achievement, Curtin, Bedoya and all the rest are building away from that past and toward that “pinch-yourself” future.
“It checks another box of a really important goal for the club,” Curtin said. “It’s one thing to have success in the league and win a trophy which was new for us last year. It’s one thing to sell Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie and have them move on and not just move on but really contribute to really good teams and lifting more trophies, that’ makes us proud. But to move on in this competition into the final four and await the winner of Club America-Portland, we have a big opportunity.
“That’s something certainly that is good for our badge, good for Philadelphia Union and good that it shows not just the rest of our league but other teams on this continent that you can do it different ways … I think our way is unique to us.”