Union kick off playoff series vs. New England with a 3-1 win at home

The Union used a dominant first half to ease past the New England Revolution, 3-1, on Saturday at Subaru Park.

Dániel Gazdag scored yet another penalty kick goal in the 19th minute, Mikael Uhre doubled the lead in the 26th, and Nathan Harriel headed in a terrific Kai Wagner free kick in the 37th. Gustavo Bou scored New England’s consolation goal in the 68th.

Jakob Glesnes tried to fight through his sports hernia and delay surgery until the offseason. But on Saturday morning, he decided he couldn’t take the pain anymore.

Union manager Jim Curtin announced after the game that Glesnes is having that surgery on Tuesday. Curtin refused to say Glesnes is out for the year, but certainly indicated that will be the case.

Damian Lowe started in Glesnes’ place, and is now ticketed to start for the rest of the postseason. If Lowe or Jack Elliott get injured, the Union might have to shift Harriel into a centerback spot, because they don’t have any other centerbacks on the roster right now. The terms of Brandan Craig’s July loan to Austin FC prevent him from playing for the Union for the rest of the year.

Backup striker Tai Baribo also was out Saturday because of a back injury, and right back Olivier Mbaizo was on the bench instead of starting, though that might have been a tactical choice. Harriel kept the starting job there.

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For the second straight game, the Union forced rookie New England goalkeeper Jacob Jackson into a mistake that cost the Revolution a goal. This time, it was caused by a Union breakaway that featured a nice sequence of cross-field passing, culminating with Jack McGlynn blocking DeJuan Jones’ attempted clearance in a corner.

As McGlynn’s block bounced toward the middle, Julián Carranza came charging forward. Jackson came off his line and collided with Carranza deep on the left side of the 18-yard box. Referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere initially didn’t call a foul, believing (with some reason) that Jackson had gotten the ball. But the video review officials saw otherwise, and at the next stoppage encouraged Lauzière to go to the monitor. He did and called a penalty kick.

Gazdag soon stepped up and made himself 18-for-18 from the spot in regulation this year, with his 22nd overall goal of the campaign.

A team that needed a jolt to start the playoffs — and a fan base, too, given how many empty seats there were well after kickoff — had one.

» READ MORE: Union midfielder Dániel Gazdag has all but perfected the penalty kick. We asked him his secret.

In the sixth minute, Uhre stepped in against New England star playmaker Carles Gil to try to take the ball. There seemed nothing unusual about the challenge at first, but when Gil tried to cut to Uhre’s left, he found Uhre’s right shoulder stretched out into his path. If it wasn’t entirely cynical on Uhre’s part, it certainly didn’t look accidental either.

Gil ran right into that elbow, crashed to the turf, and was injured. Uhre played it off, and Gil tried to play the injury off. But he could only make it to the 23rd minute before having to surrender and exit. Bobby Wood, a former U.S. men’s national team forward who remarkably is still just 30 years old, replaced him.

It had been a while since Wagner had a game with contributions this big, even if an offside flag denied him a game-tying assist in the regular-season finale.

His first big play was to set up Uhre’s goal with a cross off a breakaway. McGlynn sprung him with a great chipped pass, and Uhre’s first-time hit landed right in New England centerback Dave Romney’s midsection. Jackson could only punch away the loose ball, and it went straight to the onrushing Uhre, who he deposited his 11th goal of the year.

» READ MORE: Union striker Mikael Uhre reflects on a year that’s been good, but not as good as he wanted

Wagner’s second big play was the free kick that Harriel headed in, this time without any offside teammates denying him his moment. (Though replays showed Harriel was only just onside himself when the ball was hit.)

It was a terrific service from Wagner deep on the right wing, and New England’s Noel Buck slammed the turf when Harriel ran past him to score. It also produced the day’s second round of “Pay Kai Wagner!” chants from the crowd, a quite loud rendition this time.

» READ MORE: Is it win or bust for the Union? Not when a busting might be coming no matter what

The Union did exactly what they should have done in the first half: pound a young, inexperienced goalkeeper and put the ball in the net. They took seven shots, of which four on target. In the second half, they took 11 shots, though none were on target, with two blocked.

With the score so lopsided at halftime, New England’s interim manager Clint Peay subbed off Mark-Anthony Kaye for Giacomo Vrioni to start the second half. Curtin made his first substitution in the 62nd minute, Quinn Sullivan for Carranza. The next Union subs came in the 77th, Chris Donovan for Uhre and Leon Flach for McGlynn.

Bou’s goal for New England was a nice piece of individual skill, though it was helped by bad Union defending and by Harriel giving the ball away at midfield to start the breakaway.

But as you know by now if you’ve been reading The Inquirer’s Union coverage — and as a whole lot of people around MLS discussed during this game, as they have been for days — the consolation tally was irrelevant. Because there’s no aggregate scoring in the new best-of-three first-round playoff format, only the result matters.

To make matters even more fun, the Union and Revolution now get to wait a week and a half until their next game, Nov. 8 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. (7 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV). If New England wins that game, whether via regulation or penalty kicks (there’s no extra time), Game 3 of the series would be at Subaru Park on Nov. 12 (3 p.m., Apple TV).

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