Mikael Uhre and Tai Baribo’s goals lead Union past the New York Red Bulls

HARRISON, N.J. — The Union earned their first regular-season win since July 20 on Saturday, and they did so in style.

Goals from Mikael Uhre in the fourth minute and Tai Baribo in the 14th powered the way to a 2-0 win at the New York Red Bulls, extending their unbeaten streak over their longtime rivals to 14 games dating back nearly five years.

The victory improved the Union’s record to 7-11-9 (30 points), and notably dealt the Red Bulls (10-5-12, 42 points) their first home loss in 13 games this year. But unfortunately, the Union remain in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings because of other results league-wide Saturday.

There are now seven games left in the regular season, and the Union will be off next weekend because of a FIFA national team window. Their next game is Sept. 14 at Inter Miami, which could be Lionel Messi’s return from the ankle injury he suffered in the Copa América final.

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A few days after revealing that he wants to play another season, Alejandro Bedoya played his 34th game of this year for the Union, and made his 15th start. The 37-year-old played 53 minutes before being replaced by Quinn Sullivan, recording 28 touches, one tackle, two clearances, one defensive recovery, and 14-of-20 passing.

Bedoya’s start was the only thing close to a surprise in the starting lineup. The only other item that was news was Danley Jean Jacques starting at the defensive midfield spot. It might be his to keep now.

Union manager Jim Curtin said Friday that he knew his team needed to put Uhre in better positions to succeed. That happened right out of the gate Saturday, with help from someone who’d helped before.

When Jack McGlynn received a nice cross-field pass from Jean Jacques, he knew Uhre was heading up the left side and had Kyle Duncan in a one-on-one footrace. McGlynn played the ball forward, Duncan took a step back, and Uhre took the invitation to cut to his right.

After a few steps, Sean Nealis came close by, but Uhre dismissed him with a simple slowdown. That created a pocket to shoot from, and Uhre ripped a 22-yard blast low past former Union goalkeeper Carlos Coronel. It was Uhre’s 10th goal of the year, meaning he’s now hit double-digit scoring in all three of his seasons here.

» READ MORE: Mikael Uhre has already automatically triggered his contract option for next year

Uhre nearly doubled the lead four minutes later on a play that was even prettier: a dribble and pass to McGlynn, who played forward to Dániel Gazdag, who laid a one-touch pass on a platter for Uhre to thump from just inside the 18-yard box. This time, Coronel dove just fast enough to push it aside.

But the second goal came soon enough anyway.

The Union have long had a reputation for not playing pretty soccer. It’s well-earned, but it’s not because they can’t. The game’s second goal was all the proof anyone will need.

In 42 seconds from start to finish, 10 Union players connected on a 13-pass play that ended with Baribo shooting past Coronel from the 18-yard box arc. Not every pass was forward, but the Red Bulls had no answer for any of them, especially Jack Elliott’s raking long ball and Mbaizo’s header of it to Bedoya that unlocked New York’s defense.

Social media highlights don’t always capture full build-ups like that if they take a while. But if you can find the whole thing, do it, because it’s worth watching.

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Though the Union jumped ahead early, the Red Bulls had many early chances of their own. But Andre Blake stood tall under the pressure, making three saves in the first 20 minutes.

Blake ended the night with four official saves, and many more clutch plays. He also got lucky, as New York remarkably struck the woodwork five times in the game.

Elias Manoel hit the crossbar in the 11th minute, and Lewis Morgan did so seconds into the second half, Manoel slammed an 18-yarder off the right post in the 60th, and Morgan watched a deflected shot hit the bar in the 66th. Manoel then put a glancing header off the outside of the left post in the 70th.

The Union endured some bad luck of their own when substitute Sam Adeniran sprung Jean Jacques on the right side and he crossed low for Baribo, who was an inch late and shot off the left post of a wide-open net.

New York outshout the Union 21-12 overall, but the Union ended the night with a 7-4 edge in shots on target.