Andre Blake’s heroics save the Union in 0-0 tie at Atlanta, and clinch a Champions League berth

The Union clinched a berth in next year’s Champions League on Saturday, though it took suffering though a scoreless tie at Atlanta United to get it done.

Andre Blake was the hero on a day when Atlanta threw the house at trying to keep its playoff hopes alive. He had five saves, including some spectacular ones in the second half.

Blake was in the news all week, first for being excluded from Jamaica’s national team and then for being invited back in on Friday night. After the Reggae Boyz hired former Iceland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson as their new manager — he took his home nation to its first men’s World Cup in 2018 — Hallgrimsson met with Blake and cleared the air.

Or so the Jamaican Football Federation said, at least. That the exclusion was settled so quickly seemed to confirm that Blake was punished for his public criticism of the governing body.

Blake was back to work with his club Saturday and was plenty busy. Along with those five saves, he had nine defensive recoveries of other kinds.

The first big highlight came in the 50th minute, when Blake made a triple stop on Brooks Lennon and Dom Dwyer, with help from a scrambling Jakob Glesnes nearby.

Blake appeared to injure his right shoulder on that play, but he stayed in the game.

Nine minutes later, Blake caught a low drive from Atlanta’s Thiago Almada, who had launched a long-range shot wide right midway through the first half. Blake knew he’d see Almada again next week at Red Bull Arena when Jamaica plays Argentina; perhaps Almada did too.

In the 73rd, Blake soared at full stretch to tip a shot from Edwin Mosquera out of play. He came down on the injured shoulder and clearly felt it, but only for a moment.

Three minutes later, Blake got lucky when Amar Sejdic hit the post with Blake frozen near his goal line.

And there was one more heroic moment in the 92nd minute: a point-blank save of a Josef Martínez header on the goal line, with Jack Elliott sliding in to bash the ball off the post and out of danger.

» READ MORE: Was Andre Blake dropped from Jamaica’s national team for criticizing its governing body?

Union manager Jim Curtin bluntly said after Thursday’s practice that Alejandro Bedoya “will be totally fine, I think, for Atlanta,” after suffering a groin injury while scoring a goal against Orlando last weekend.

That ended up not being the case. When the starting lineup was announced an hour before kickoff, the team put out a statement saying Bedoya suffered a hip flexor strain during Thursday’s practice.

As a result, Bedoya missed a game for only the third time this year. The first was in April because of a knee issue, and the second was in July because of yellow card accumulation.

Curtin said after Saturday’s game that Bedoya suffered the hip injury at the end of Thursday’s practice and that it’s “totally unrelated” to the groin issue.

“When I said 100% after the press conference, he was 100% — I probably jinxed it with my words,” he said. “I think he’ll be OK for the next game. That’s my hope, anyway. But I don’t think it’s too serious. It just would have been a big risk today.”

Jack McGlynn has rarely looked overmatched on the field in the 46 games he has played for the Union so far — and yes, it’s already been that many for the 19-year-old. He was quiet for most of this game but became more influential as it opened up in the second half.

McGlynn finished with 55 touches, 40-of-47 passing, one shot, six defensive recoveries, and one interception and won two of his four duels with opposing players.

» READ MORE: Jack McGlynn has had a breakout year with the Union

You knew that already, but it bears saying anyway. What the Union’s attack has done over the last few months is exceptional. As MLS’ statisticians noted a few days ago, the five Union games with at least five goals scored is the second-highest total in a season in the league’s 26-year history.

Atlanta loaded up all of its attacking weapons in the last 25 minutes. Mosquera, Ronaldo Cisneros, Matheus Rossetto, and the veteran star Martínez came into the game as substitutes, with right back Ronald Hernández among the players exiting.

On the Union’s bench, Jim Curtin sent in Cory Burke for Julián Carranza (who drew an 11th-minute yellow card) in the 67th minute; Nathan Harriel for Olivier Mbaizo in the 76th; and Chris Donovan for Mikael Uhre in the 87th.

The Union (18-4-10, 64 points) didn’t play great, objectively or subjectively. They registered just five shots, none officially on target, and had an expected-goals tally of 0.15. (Atlanta’s was 1.33 from 16 shots, six on target.)

But they escaped a glaringly obviously trap game against an Atlanta team (10-12-10, 40 points) in the midst of its first winning streak of the year, with some of the most expensive players in MLS history trying to prove they aren’t busts. The Five Stripes still are one point out of the last playoff spot with two games to go, and the next three teams ahead of them have all played two fewer games.

» READ MORE: Olivier Mbaizo stays focused on the Union while on the cusp of World Cup history

The Union remain two points away from clinching first place in the Eastern Conference, thanks to Montreal’s 1-0 win at New England Saturday night. Because of the FIFA window that’s about to start, the Union will have to wait until Oct. 1 for their next official game, at expansion team Charlotte FC.

As for the Supporters’ Shield, the Union still have a three-point lead over Los Angeles FC ahead of L.A.’s home game against Houston on Sunday night (10:30 p.m., ESPN+). If both teams win out from here, they’ll end tied on 70 points, and LAFC will win the trophy on total wins, 22-20.