Sergio Santos helps FC Cincinnati set up a reunion with the Union in the playoffs

HARRISON, N.J. — The Union staff watching FC Cincinnati’s 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday will probably have only been really troubled by one play in the game.

But that play was the game-winning goal, and it looked a bit familiar.

Former Union fan favorite Sergio Santos sprung free down the left wing and set up Brandon Vázquez for his 19th goal of the year, capping a come-from-behind victory after New York opened the scoring early in the second half.

The Union’s playoff opener on Thursday at Subaru Park (8 p.m., FS1 and Fox Deportes) will be against an opponent with many familiar faces: Santos, Ray Gaddis, and Alvas Powell on the field; manager Pat Noonan, a former Union assistant, on the sideline; and general manager Chris Albright, the former No. 2 in the Union’s front office, in a suite.

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“The job that Jim [Curtin] has done with that group this year can’t be overstated,” said Albright, who shares a longtime friendship with Curtin. “It’s going to be fun to go home. But it’s about these guys on the field — they sense there’s an opportunity, and it’s obviously going to be really difficult playing against one of the best teams in the league.”

Indeed, the Union’s influence is far from the only reason Cincinnati has had such a good season, after being MLS’s worst team during the club’s first three years in the league.

Powell, Vázquez, and Nick Hagglund have championship rings. Gaddis, Santos, Geoff Cameron, Matt Miazga, Ronald Matarrita, and Dominique Badji have also won playoff games in the past.

They aren’t all starters, but their experience carries weight in the locker room.

When Lewis Morgan blasted New York into the lead, the visitors didn’t flinch. Or when Cincinnati had a 54th-minute equalizer taken off the board after a video review. Or when a whopping 12 minutes of second-half stoppage time went up on the fourth official’s board.

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“It shows resilience,” Gaddis said. “I think it’s the leadership that’s been instilled in the group from the beginning of the year, and I just think that everybody is bought in.”

Santos entered the game in the 67th minute while Matarrita and Gaddis entered at the start of that lengthy stoppage time. Each made contributions that mattered: an assist here, an interception there, a dribble to the corner to run off a little more clock.

And the Union’s all-time leader in minutes played snuck in a reminder that he and Santos beat the Red Bulls twice in the playoffs at Subaru Park, in 2019 and last year. In the first of those, Santos assisted on Fafà Picault’s equalizer at 3-3 late in the second half.

“Having already witnessed him do that,” Gaddis said, “to see him do it again — that’s the type of player he is.”

At the same time, while Cincinnati is a good team, it’s not a great one. That was apparent to everyone at the stadium, including the Union’s chief scouts on hand: principal owner Jay Sugarman and No. 2 Richard Leibovitch. They sat right behind Red Bull Arena’s almost-field-level press seats, with Leibovitch proudly dressed in Union gear in enemy territory. Sugarman and Santos exchanged waves and smiles at halftime. And they were joined by quite a few other Union jerseys in the crowd.

New York had Cincinnati on the back foot for most of the first half, high-pressing as they always do. But the Red Bulls are woefully short on finishing quality. The Union is not. If Mikael Uhre, Julián Carranza, and Dániel Gazdag get into attacking positions the Red Bulls had opportunities to exploit, they should be able to finish them.

Add that to what will be a ferocious atmosphere in Chester, and expect the dynamic to be quite different.

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The Union opened up standing-room ticket sales at Subaru Park last week as sales trended toward another sellout. But when this game kicked off just after noon, there might have been as many people in the stands as the nearly 7,000 at Dilworth Park for NBC’s Premier League Fan Fest.

“This should be fun,” Noonan said. “I think it’s pretty cool that we get to go and face the top team in the conference on the road in what will be a very hostile environment and see what we’re about … It’s no surprise on their end that they’re in this position, and I think our guys will be excited about the opportunity and well aware of the challenges that our opponent will pose for us.”

Gaddis revealed that he got messages from Union fans in the last few days encouraging him on against a team Union fans always enjoy beating. Now, he will return to Chester for the second time since coming out of retirement to suit up for Cincinnati this year.

And it will be Santos’ first trip back since the Union traded him to Cincinnati in July.

“It’s going to be very emotional going back to my former hometown,” he said, “but for me, I’m just going to go out there and give my absolute all to win for FC Cincinnati.”

The game right after the Union’s on Thursday will be a matchup of MLS’s dreams — and of Supporters’ Shield winner Los Angeles FC’s nightmares.

Julián Araujo’s 60th-minute header was enough to give the Los Angeles Galaxy the win over a Nashville squad led by top MLS MVP candidate Hany Mukhtar.

The Galaxy will visit LAFC in Thursday’s playoff nightcap (10 p.m., FS1 and Fox Deportes). It will be the 17th edition of the rivalry game known as “El Tráfico,” and the second in the playoffs.