Union tie New England Revolution, 1-1, on Kacper Przybylko’s late goal

The Union tied the New England Revolution, 1-1, Wednesday night at Subaru Park, in the teams’ first meeting since last year’s playoffs.

Here are some observations on the game.

The decision to start Sergio Santos instead of Cory Burke at striker alongside Kacper Przybylko showed promise early, but didn’t end up producing much. The Union (1-2-2, 5 points) took just four shots in the first half, and none of them really threatened New England’s goal.

When Burke replaced Santos and Anthony Fontana replaced Jack McGlynn in the 59th minute, the Union had yet to record a shot in the second half. Even then, chances were few and far between. Jamiro Monteiro slipped after being sprung by Fontana in the 73rd. A minute later, Jack Elliott produced a rare moment of entertainment with a surprising run forward that produced a thumped shot, but it flew wide.

New England (2-1-2, 8 points) came closer to scoring at the other end, but rarely posed a serious threat to Andre Blake — until the 85th minute, when a Union defensive breakdown left Teal Bunbury wide open in the middle of the 18-yard box. He slipped while shooting, but still managed to steer the ball past Blake.

Przybylko delivered the Union’s response in the 88th, but it took heading the ball in amid a crowd just off the goal line. That was pretty symbolic.

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Union manager Jim Curtin said a lot of nice things about McGlynn after the 17-year-old rookie midfielder got his first MLS start Saturday in Chicago. Curtin paid McGlynn a even higher compliment on Wednesday by starting him again.

McGlynn had a quieter game this time, but a fair one: 20 touches, one chance created, two recoveries and 13-of-16 passing. There certainly were no major mistakes. We’ll find out Saturday whether that’s enough to earn him another start for the last game before José Andrés Martínez returns from suspension.

Yes, this is getting into broken record territory now. But as long as Monteiro keeps starting at the top of the diamond, it’s going to keep coming up. He won four duels and made six recoveries, two interceptions and two tackles. But he was just 17-of-23 passing, took two shots and had zero chances created.

The Union can’t afford that from from that position, even if Fontana hasn’t done enough to regain the starting spot. (And that includes his work during the rest of the week.)

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Although New England star playmaker Carles Gil got his share of shots and chances created, overall Flach did a pretty good job defending him. He finished the night with 58 touches, 11 recoveries, four duels won, three interceptions and two tackles, and completed 30 of 40 passes.