Dániel Gazdag’s hat trick powers the Union to their second straight win, 3-0 over Nashville

The Union beat Nashville SC, 3-0, on Saturday at Subaru Park, in the team’s last game before Major League Soccer stops its season for the Leagues Cup tournament against Mexican clubs.

All three goals came from Dániel Gazdag, taking his total this year to 14 in 22 games. He struck in the 10th and 39th minutes, then finished the game off in the 89th.

It was the second straight win for the Union (6-10-9, 27 points), marking their first winning streak since early April, and moved them from 14th to 10th in the Eastern Conference. They’re one point out of a playoff spot as the Leagues Cup break begins.

Gazdag’s opening goal was as inventive as it was delightful. It started with Leon Flach receiving a short pass from Quinn Sullivan, then splitting three Nashville defenders with a first-touch through ball to Gazdag at the six-yard line.

He first looked like he’d wind up for a hard shot from close range. But instead, he chipped the ball over Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis, who was just far enough off his goal line to be trapped. U.S. national team veteran Shaq Moore put his hand up to claim Gazdag was offside, but as tends to happen, Moore was in fact the player keeping him on.

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It was Gazdag’s 12th goal of the year, and his first on home turf since June 1 — his last game before leaving to play for Hungary in the European Championship.

Gazdag’s second goal came with a nifty assist, this time a flick by Mikael Uhre between two defenders. The Hungarian turned himself onto the ball and sent it past Willis, with Moore again keeping him onside.

The third goal was a classic case of what happens when a defense playing it out of the back goes wrong.

Willis gave a short pass to Brent Kallman, who promptly slipped on the grass at the top of the 18-yard box. Gazdag ran up to steal the ball, dribbled around Willis, and calmly slotted it in.

Facing his third game in a week, Union manager Jim Curtin started a back line of Kai Wagner, Jakob Glesnes, Damion Lowe, and Olivier Mbaizo from left to right.

Rotating Jack Elliott out of the lineup was understandable, but a gamble in one notable way. Nashville has two quite fast attackers in Jacob Shaffelburg, the star of Canada’s Copa América Cinderella run, and 2022 MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar.

Considering how much Glesnes likes to get forward to join attacks, it was a risk to run that duo against Nashville’s duo. But they ended up staying back more than usual, and the shutout was intact when Lowe was subbed out for Jack Elliott in the 60th minute.

The only blemish was a yellow card Lowe earned in just the second minute for a hard foul on Nashville’s Forster Ajago. It earned Lowe a suspension for yellow card accumulation, but because of the Leagues Cup break he won’t serve it until the regular season resumes on Aug. 24 vs. Columbus in Chester.

Elliott drew an even faster booking — 28 seconds after taking the field — for barging into Mukhtar from behind as they dueled for a ball in the air.

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Newly acquired striker Sam Adeniran entered at the same time as Elliott, replacing Mikael Uhre. He didn’t do much in his minutes, but he didn’t have to with the lead in place.

The closest thing to a highlight came when fellow substitute Jesús Bueno gave Adeniran the ball near the penalty spot and he blazed a first-time shot over the crossbar. A few seconds later, Adeniran got another chance off a nice pass from Olivier Mbaizo, and he curled a shot from 18 yards right at Willis.

Bueno had replaced Leon Flach in the 75th minute, and Alejandro Bedoya replaced Quinn Sullivan at the same time. Jeremy Rafanello was the last entrant, replacing José Andrés Martínez.

Those substitutions meant homegrown wunderkind Cavan Sullivan would not enter the match after making his debut on Wednesday.

Just two games into his return from surgery on his right knee, Andre Blake sat down on the field in the 36th minute with nothing going around him. The Union’s medical staff came out and spent a little more than a minute attending to him, this time looking at his left knee.

Blake was eventually able to get back up and resume playing, and made a nice diving save in the 50th minute. He made an even better reflex stop in the 85th with Teal Bunbury on his doorstep.

But that earlier moment certainly was a scare.

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