Tai Baribo’s goal gives the Union a 1-0 win over Charlotte in their Leagues Cup opener

The Union beat Charlotte FC, 1-0, in their Leagues Cup group stage opener on Saturday at Subaru Park.

Tai Baribo scored the goal in the 33rd minute to give the Union a winning start in the two-game round. The finale will come next Sunday when Mexico’s Cruz Azul visits Subaru Park (8 p.m., FS1, UniMás, TUDN, free on Apple TV).

Since the game didn’t matter as much as a regular-season contest does — apologies to the MLS marketing department — Union manager Jim Curtin put Mikael Uhre on the bench and started new signing Sam Adeniran next to Tai Baribo instead.

Cavan Sullivan wasn’t in the game-day squad at all, which Jim Curtin hinted at on Friday. Presumably he’ll play for the Union’s reserves on Sunday in Columbus (6 p.m., Apple TV) instead of spending most of Saturday on the first team’s bench.

The biggest surprise was that defensive midfielder Leon Flach wasn’t on the game-day squad at all. No reason was given before the game, but he had played in 15 straight games before Saturday. So a night off was reasonable, even if it came at a time when the Union had a week of rest between games for once.

» READ MORE: Jim Curtin wants the Union to win the Leagues Cup, but some fans are protesting it

Baribo’s goal came from a nice combination move on a break forward. Adeniran played Dániel Gazdag forward to the end line, he sent the ball back toward the middle, and Baribo turned it in from 7 yards for his seventh goal of the year.

Adeniran had two notable misses in the first half, including a shot wide from 14 yards on a breakaway in the 39th. Fortunately for him, it was erased from the box score by the offside flag going up — though a replay showed he might actually have been on. Had he scored, video review officials would have gotten involved.

Jakob Glesnes nearly made it 2-0 in the 85th with a nice header of a corner kick, but Gazdag touched the ball on its way in and he was offside when Glesnes headed it. So the goal was taken off.

There was an unusual turn of events right as the Union broke their pregame huddle. Mexican referee Marco Ortiz Nava, a Liga MX official who’s doing Leagues Cup games but doesn’t normally work in MLS, gave José Andrés Martínez a yellow card.

There was no public announcement of the reason for the booking, but the Apple TV broadcast gave a hint when Ortiz Nava pointed at his ring finger after raising the card. The message was he didn’t want Martínez wearing tape over a piece of jewelry.

» READ MORE: Subaru Park will host D.C. United-Santos Laguna Leagues Cup game in last minute change

A moment later, Kai Wagner came over to the sideline and removed his own ring, and gave it to a Union assistant coach.

Wearing jewelry on the field has never been allowed, but some referees let it go if the jewelry is taped over and they can’t see what’s underneath.

The Sons of Ben supporters’ club put down its drums and stopped chanting midway through the first half, as it said it would, but only a small number of fans followed the group’s leaders in walking out of the stadium.

Before they left, they sent a message directed at Major League Soccer. Next to the usual “WE WANT THE CUP” banner, a few fans hung one that said “THE US OPEN CUP,” referring to the 110-year-old national championship for clubs across American soccer.

» READ MORE: Subaru Park will host another NWSL game, and a USWNT viewing party, on Sunday

MLS pulled most of its teams out of the competition this year and attempted to send reserve squads instead. A regiment of league officials claimed the calendar was too congested to fit the games in — but of course, the Leagues Cup caused that congestion.

Those officials have tried all along to claim that their dislike of the Open Cup stems from MLS teams (and the league office) not controlling its profits. But commissioner Don Garber let the truth out at the All-Star Game this past Wednesday in Columbus.

“We have to continue to win against our rivals to become the best teams and the best league in the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “Some of that’s going to be about spending, which requires us to have more revenue, and that requires us to look at our schedule differently and think about ways that we can generate more revenue.”

That second sentence will likely hang over Garber for a while, especially if MLS pulls out of next year’s Open Cup — which many people in its realm would like to do. The Sons of Ben are one of many supporters’ clubs across MLS protesting against the Leagues Cup and for the Open Cup this summer.

» READ MORE: MLS says it has global ambition, but too often acts like it doesn’t. Here's why that needs to change.

Meanwhile, the action in the River End wasn’t over. The Keystone State Ultras group stayed quiet while the Sons of Ben were making noise, then began their chants and songs after the Sons of Ben stopped. They even got some other fans who had stayed in the River End to join in.

Later in the first half, some leaders of the Keystone group walked over to the stand where the Sons of Ben’s drummers are usually set up, and put down their own drum and flag.

Coincidentally, Baribo scored his goal in the midst of all that happening.