Union pushes past Querétaro to set up showdown with Lionel Messi, Inter Miami in Leagues Cup

The Union’s Leagues Cup quarterfinal win over Querétaro had everything: a 30-minute power outage, Jesús Bueno’s first goal for the Union, Chris Donovan scoring in front of his hometown crowd, and shoves traded between teams after the final whistle.

One thing it didn’t have was Lionel Messi, but don’t worry — he’ll officially be at Subaru Park on Tuesday with Inter Miami to take on the Union in the semifinals.

“We look forward to hosting the greatest player of the history of the sport in our building,” Union manager Jim Curtin said. “I think it will definitely be the loudest Subaru Park will ever be. It’s a great matchup, and one that if we play like tonight, we’ll be in big trouble.”

The last time the MLS and Liga MX teams faced off resulted in a 5-1 Union thrashing July 22 in the group stage. Friday’s match was quite different, with the Union finally pushing past Querétaro, 2-1, in the 101st minute thanks to Donovan’s goal.

“We didn’t play good. We didn’t create a lot, but if you really look at it, did they create a ton?” Curtin said. “You know, they had some possession for sure. But they didn’t really hurt us; Andre didn’t have to do too much. The 5-1 game, you knew it wouldn’t look like that, because they’ve gotten better as this competition has gone on.”

The differences began with a delayed start following that power outage. Ten minutes before the game was slated to begin at 8 p.m., the lights and video board went dark. The outage, which the Union said affected the entire area, ended up delaying the start of the game a full hour.

Querétaro also had made a goaltending change since its last game at Subaru Park, replacing Alejandro Arana with 22-year-old Fernando Tapia, and won its next three matches. Tapia only conceded one goal in that span and made 12 saves.

The Union tested Tapia early with a shot from Mikael Uhre that he saved in the first minute of play, but they broke through in the 10 minute. Jack McGlynn evaded two defenders and a deflected shot found Bueno through traffic, who tapped the ball by a reaching Tapia.

Bueno was the hero in the Union’s round of 16 victory last week, scoring the penalty kick that ultimately lifted the Union past the New York Red Bulls. His goal on Friday night officially was the Venezuelan midfielder’s first with the Union.

“Jesús has been a revelation this year,” Curtin said. “Always has been a solid, steady player, but I think he’s taking this game to another level.”

The Union outshot Querétaro, 7-3, in the first half, with three of the Union’s shots coming on target and only one for Querétaro.

Unfortunately for the Union, Querétaro’s second shot on target was the equalizer. In the 65th minute, Ángel Sepúlveda corralled a cross pass from Jaime Gómez and launched the ball past Andre Blake to knot the score, 1-1.

Julián Carranza exited in the 81st minute with an injury and was subbed for Quinn Sullivan.

“Julián reached for a ball and then felt something in his lower hamstring … I don’t want to speculate too much, and he’ll get an MRI,” Curtin said. “But this is kind of part of the the grind, the gift and the curse of it, of advancing in this competition, right? You see some injuries start to mount up for teams.”

» READ MORE: Jim Curtin blasts ‘little brother’ Red Bulls after Union’s latest win over New York

The Union’s last two games in the Leagues Cup had gone to penalty kicks, and, for a while, it looked like Friday’s match was headed that way once again. In Leagues Cup matches, games that are tied after regulation bypass regular extra time and head straight to penalties.

While the Union had its chances to pull back ahead, sending several shots wide and into the stands behind the goal, the game remained deadlocked heading into stoppage time.

“It is human nature to maybe have a an eye on the next game, so I tried to guard against that as best I can,” Curtin said. “But sometimes, you know, it’s human nature. These guys are people. And sometimes the excitement of that maybe got us a little distracted.”

In the 101st minute, Donovan finally found the back of the net on a redirected cross pass from Kai Wagner. The Drexel product and Paoli native played hometown hero to set up a date with Messi’s Inter Miami.

“It’s pretty surreal to score one where you know that extra time is just about to expire as well, and you know that Messi is on the other end of it,” Donovan said.

Tensions were high on the pitch throughout the game, with multiple scuffles between the teams broken up by the referees. Six yellow cards were handed out to Querétaro players and one to José Andrés Martínez. The home fans at Subaru Park loudly took issue with the 15 fouls called against the Union, while Querétaro collected 15 fouls of their own.

Omar Mendoza’s second yellow card resulted in his ejection in the 99th minute. Wagner’s kick from outside the box came inches away from putting the Union back in front, but it clanged off the post.

After Donovan found the back of the net moments later, players streamed out onto the pitch from both benches to trade words and pushes, but no supplemental discipline has been laid.

“At the end, it was a little bit [of] chaos probably, but that’s how it is, that’s how you play Mexican teams,” Wagner said. “They both bring the intensity, and that’s what we need sometimes.”

The Union were without leading scorer Dániel Gazdag on Friday, as he went down with a knee injury in the second half against the New York Red Bulls. Gazdag netted three of the Union’s five goals in their last meeting with Querétaro.

Curtin said before Friday’s match that Gazdag had been diagnosed with a Grade 1 knee sprain and that he was not ruled out for the semifinals.