The Union might not have much of a season left, but they have a striker in Tai Baribo

It’s starting to feel like the old days again for the Union, with so many blown leads and simple mistakes late in games.

It’s even starting to feel that way at goalkeeper after Oliver Semmle’s nightmare in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at FC Cincinnati. Luca Orellano’s astonishing goal from midfield will be a viral highlight for years, just like David Villa’s chip over Andre Blake at Subaru Park in 2017 was, and Semmle’s flap at Kevin Kelsy’s opening goal was even worse.

Let’s get it out of the way that Semmle isn’t going anywhere until Blake gets back. The only other option is 18-year-old academy product Andrew Rick, and he isn’t ready for the top level yet.

But despite falling to 10th place with the loss, the Union (4-6-8, 20 points) do, finally, have an option at striker to succeed Julián Carranza — and it’s who it was supposed to be all along.

Tai Baribo should have been the Union’s biggest headline from Wednesday night, thanks to his first two goals for the team: a spinning volley in the 43rd minute and a clutch doorstep equalizer in the 91st. Instead, he was kicked down the page by Semmle’s struggles and Markus Anderson’s inexcusable giveaway that led to reigning MVP Luciano Acosta’s 100th-minute winner.

» READ MORE: After coming from behind three times, the Union blow it late in a 4-3 loss at Cincinnati

It is not out of place, though, to spend the rest of this piece focusing on Baribo. For all the Union’s needs right now, the biggest fear is that Carranza’s impending departure to Dutch club Feyenoord will leave the team without anyone capable of scoring the goals needed to win games.

Now, Baribo should have shut down that fear.

A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a few other press box regulars at Subaru Park on one of many nights when Baribo was rooted to the bench. It was not long after Union manager Jim Curtin made Baribo nothing more than a procedural token against Seattle, using him in a fake substitution to get Carranza on the field when the game resumed on its new date.

Curtin has signaled multiple times since Baribo’s arrival last summer that the striker’s practice habits haven’t measured up to the manager’s standards. He even implied it again on Tuesday when he said Quinn Sullivan has been starting at forward instead of the midfield role he should have because “he’s earned that on the training field.”

The theory being discussed was that Baribo must not have much talent if he was so far from playing. I responded that we didn’t know how much talent Baribo has, because we’d barely seen him play.

Now we have seen him, and we know some things. Baribo played 90 minutes plus ample stoppage time on Wednesday, more than tripling the mere 26 minutes he’d played over four games until then. In fact, this game alone equaled over half of the 175 total minutes he’d played for the Union since arriving.

» READ MORE: Quinn Sullivan keeps playing forward for the Union even though he isn’t a forward

Baribo didn’t just contribute goals, converting two of the three shots he took. He also completed 15 of 16 passes, had four defensive recoveries, and won six of the 11 duels he contested.

“Yeah, excellent,” Curtin said. “That’s not just because of the goals, [it’s] because of the work rate. To be able to run and fight that way until he couldn’t run anymore, basically, was very good.”

Then he added the most important words: “He’s worked hard to get this start, and now, yeah, certainly left a really good impression with the coaches, put in a great shift, and it will certainly get [him] more playing time.”

Baribo certainly must have overtaken Anderson on the depth chart after Anderson’s inexcusable giveaway.

It wasn’t just that Sullivan was wide open on the other side of the field, leaping up and down waving his hands to try to get Anderson to pass him the ball. If Anderson didn’t think he could get the ball there, he could have at least kept running down the flank he was on to kill the clock. Instead, he slowed down and let former Union right back Alvas Powell take the ball from him.

» READ MORE: Kai Wagner calls out Union ownership as the season threatens to go off the rails

“He could go to the corner flag and the game probably ends,” Curtin said. “There was a window, if you’re not confident in your left foot to play [to] Quinny, there’s enough space there, and Alvas is in a recovery mode, to just cut it to your right and hit it and just a 40-yard clipped ball to the other side. ... There was a moment there where, when you see Quinn streaking over there, you have the feeling maybe we could steal a win — and that quickly turned into a mistake and it being a loss.”

Anderson had subbed in when Baribo ran out of gas, for his first playing time since April. There had been much hope that Anderson’s pace and dribbling skills would make him a good new partner for Mikael Uhre, but that’s out the window until Curtin trusts Anderson enough to play him again.

At least Baribo delivered, giving Curtin and Union fans something to be happy about with a quick turnaround to Saturday’s home game against Charlotte FC (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

“Tai had worked hard in training, and we rewarded him,” Curtin said, having given Baribo a big pat on the back after he came off the field. “He earned the start, and like a good professional took advantage of his opportunity. He did a good job finishing his plays off in the box like a good striker, and hopefully there’s more of that in the future.”

If there are, it will help the Union finally get back to winning.