Union rout New York Red Bulls, 4-1, with goals from defenders and attackers alike

The Union fell behind early for the second straight game, but this time they rallied for an emphatic 4-1 win over the rival New York Red Bulls on Sunday at Subaru Park.

New York’s Omir Fernandez opened the scoring in the 11th minute, Jakob Glesnes leveled things in the 29th minute, then the Red Bulls’ Sean Nealis was sent off in the 44th for his second yellow card of the night. Damion Lowe put the Union ahead in the 57th, Julián Carranza extended the lead in the 59th, and Dániel Gazdag finished things off in the 76th.

With the win, the Union (14-8-4, 46 points) extended their unbeaten streak over the Red Bulls (7-12-8, 29 points) to 12 games in all competitions.

You could have picked the Union’s starters for this game as soon as last Wednesday’s loss at Toronto ended.

With no defensive midfielders available, manager Jim Curtin went back to a 3-5-2 so Jack McGlynn and Alejandro Bedoya could have enough support behind them to go forward. There was no other workable option.

The only question was who would start at right back next to the centerback trio of Jakob Glesnes, Jack Elliott and Damion Lowe. It proved to be Nathan Harriel.

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Curtin likes to say that his team isn’t built to play from behind, but it had to again here.

Andrés Reyes found Fernandez shockingly wide open in the box as the Union’s defense dropped back, and Fernandez got two shots to score: one that Lowe blocked, and one he rolled around Lowe’s side and past a stranded Andre Blake.

Since he was at fault on all three of Toronto’s goals Wednesday, it was good to see Glesnes get a measure of redemption by banging in a loose ball off a corner kick to tie the score. It was his seventh Union goal in 138 games here, and his second against the Red Bulls. The first was his famous playoff game-winner in 2021.

» READ MORE: Tai Baribo is still adjusting to his new life with the Union

Lowe’s goal in the 57th minute came from another set piece. Kai Wagner fired in a superb free kick from 35 yards out on the left flank, and Lowe dove forward out of a wave of players to head the ball in.

Nealis drew his first yellow card in the sixth minute for obstructing Dániel Gazdag at midfield, and his second in the 44th for a handball. It was definitely a handball, but didn’t look as deliberate as many do. It did stop a Union attack, though, with no one behind Nealis as he retreated. So he was dismissed.

Red Bulls manager Troy Lesene and many of his players were irate, but there was nothing they could do. A yellow card can’t be overturned by video review, and a handball isn’t reviewable unless it produces a penalty kick.

Carranza put the ball in the net in the final seconds of first-half stoppage time, but was offside. It took not just a video review from the booth, but a trip to the sideline monitor by Vazquez to confirm that. The call was correct, though, as the TV broadcast showed.

The Argentine struck again in the 58th, 107 seconds after Lowe’s tally. Wagner was the provider again, hitting a first-time cross of a loose ball to an open Carranza, who smashed in his 14th goal of the year.

Tai Baribo got his first major Union minutes, entering as a 72nd-minute substitute for Uhre. Four minutes later, Gazdag broke free up the middle and finished the game off with his 18th goal of the year in all competitions.

Notably, it was just his third goal of the year from open play. The other 15 came from penalty kicks.

After Gazdag scored, he went down holding his right knee, the culmination of a night where he took plenty of hits. He was able to gingerly leave the field under his own power, and was replaced by Jeremy Rafanello.

There was one sour note toward the end: Bedoya drew a yellow card for tripping Kyle Duncan in the 80th. That earned the Union’s captain a suspension for yellow card accumulation, and he’ll miss a big game: first-place FC Cincinnati’s visit to Chester on Sept. 16.

Baribo earned his unofficial welcome to MLS in the 85th with the night’s eighth and final yellow card.

For the second straight game, Curtin wore an item from the new Union-themed clothing line designed by Live Breathe Futbol, a Brewerytown-based designer of fashionable soccer apparel. Its founder and creative director Ebun Olaloye has been a Union fan since the team’s very first days, and 12 years ago won a t-shirt design contest that the team ran.

Olaloye worked for a long time to gain permission from MLS to make apparel for his local team. He finally got it this summer, at a time when soccer has never been more popular around here.

The Union-themed gear is available not just at his website, livebreathefutbol.com, but through major mainstream outlets Dick’s Sporting Goods and Fanatics, which runs MLS’s official store. That, too, is a major success story for a local guy made good.

» READ MORE: For Brewerytown soccer lifestyle brand Live Breathe Futbol, patience paid off via deal with MLS and Dick’s Sporting Goods