Union win opener 4-1 over Columbus with goals from Julián Carranza and Dániel Gazdag

The Union gave the new season an impressive jump-start on Saturday night at Subaru Park, coming from behind to rout the Columbus Crew, 4-1. Dániel Gazdag and Julián Carranza scored twice each, with both of Gazdag’s goals coming on penalty kicks.

Union manager Jim Curtin warned about the possibility of a slow start, and it came to pass. His team’s only really good scoring chance of the first half-hour was Julían Carranza hitting the post of a wide open net in the 27th minute, only to be spared embarrassment by being flagged offside.

Barely a minute later, Columbus took the lead with a well-worked passing sequence: Darlington Nagbe to Juan “Cucho” Hernández to Alexandru Matan for a close-range shot that deflected in off Jakob Glesnes at Andre Blake’s near post.

It took until the 35th for the Union to force Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte into his first save of the night, an easy stop of Gazdag’s low shot from the top of the 18-yard box.

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The game turned in the Union’s favor just before halftime. A 45th-minute Kai Wagner free kick pinged around in traffic in Columbus’ 18-yard box, and when the ball fell to Leon Flach he shot it off Mo Farsi’s right elbow. Referee Lukasz Szpala immediately whistled for a penalty kick, and after a video review stoppage the call was upheld.

At halftime, the Union had a 7-4 advantage in shots, and an expected goals edge of 1.36 to 0.11. The total of fouls, for those counting, was 8-8.

Early in the second half, the Union seized control of the night for good with a classic steal and high-speed goal.

Martínez started the play by snatching the ball off Lucas Zelarayán and feeding Gazdag, who took off up the middle. He spotted Alejandro Bedoya to his right, fed the Union’s captain, and Bedoya sent the ball back into the middle for Carranza to flick in brilliantly with the outside of his left foot.

That’s the kind of soccer the Union love to play, whatever the critics think of it. And a penny for those critics’ thoughts about Hernández’s dive in the Union’s 18-yard box four minutes later that earned him a yellow card instead of a penalty kick.

The Union earned a second penalty kick for a handball in the 71st minute, after a rather lengthy review. But when Szpala went to the field-side monitor, he saw what he was looking for: Kai Wagner hit a shot off Miloš Degenek’s arm, with the big Crew centerback standing right on the 18-yard line. It was close, but on the line counts as in the box.

Gazdag stepped up to the spot and sent Schulte the wrong way for the second straight time.

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It took until the 78th minute for Curtin to make his first substitution, sending in Torres for Mikael Uhre. It was a while to wait, but Torres didn’t wait long to make an impact.

Torres’ first touch of the ball on the field, taken 27 seconds after entering, was a spin around Philip Quinton. His second was a spin around Nagbe. His third was a threaded pass for Carranza to race on to, and Carranza hit a first-time shot under Schulte to make it 4-1.

The crowd’s celebration shook the stands of Subaru Park, and Jim Curtin earned a warning from the officials for running down the sideline to celebrate with his players.

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For the record, the Crew drew five yellow cards to the Union’s one in the game, and were whistled for 15 fouls to the Union’s 12. And at the final whistle, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” blared out on the stadium PA system.

The point was made, to the Union’s critics and the rest of MLS.

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