A Butting Rivalry

The Union and NYCFC continue to find new ways to dislike each other but the U get the win.  The trip to Chicago wasn't as much fun.  

Twenty Minutes of Chaos

There were plenty of good reasons to be a Subaru Park Sunday night.  Two top teams in the East facing each other, full house, great energy, Brendan Aaronson in the building, and, of course, sausage sandwiches (more on them below).  But the last 20 minutes of the match were chaotic and confusing to those of us in the stands.  Even with some explanatory texts from Dennis, it was not always clear what was happening.

The match to that point had certainly held our interest, even if it wasn't the highest quality football.  These two teams don't like each other and they play like it.  The U had a 1-0 lead thanks to an Elliott to Bedoya to Uhre hook up.  Except for one flurry in the first half, we commented that it looked like the only way NYCFC was going to score was with a PK or maybe a set piece.

Things got a little harder for us to follow when Carranza went down after some contact to the head in the 76th minute.  On comes the trainer - Paul Rushing.  Suddenly, a hockey match breaks out and Rushing is in the middle of it.  We didn't see exactly how it started but Dennis told us that Rushing shoved Acevedo.  Watching the replay on the DVR at home, I saw the NYCFC players getting in Carranza's and the Rushing's faces, claiming Carranza was milking the contact (which is entirely possible).  Rushing had enough and pushed Acevedo twice.  Pretty tame stuff actually.  A few players got yellows but Rushing was the one to see red.  I'm guessing it might have been based on language rather than physical actions. He got a standing O on the way out.  

Unfortunately, a PK was on the way.  Wagner looked to a have blocked a shot on the goal line out for a corner, which was what referee Villareal signaled.  But after some discussion in the corner, the next thing we see is Villareal pointing to the spot.  We thought it was the VAR who intervened but later found out it was the AR who convinced Villareal that it was handling.  You can see the play here (should open to the right spot).  I don't think that's handling because his arm was moving back towards his face as the ball was played and because of how close Wagner was to the kick.  Oh well.  

Burke is the Union player closest to Martinez;
yeah, he is way onside

With the score now tied at 1-1, on we go into seven minutes of stoppage time - the "fight" remember?  Late in stoppage, Martinez took one of those shots he is wont to unload from about 25 yards out.  Usually they go wide or high.  This one was on frame.  Except it deflected off of Corey Burke, past Johnson for the game winner.  But, no, the other AR has this one offside.  Fortunately, the VAR told Villareal he better check this.  As you can see from the picture, Burke wasn't even close to being off; there were at least three plus the keeper behind him.  We didn't get much off a look at the stadium but Dennis said it was looking like a good goal.

Play continued on for a bit, with NYCFC getting the ball into the Union penalty area in the closing seconds.  We see Villareal raise his arm as if he's called full time.  Except he hasn't.  We believe that he is checking with the VAR, for what, we have no idea.  Dennis texts to tell his they're looking at another possible handling call.  Fortunately, the decision is that it wasn't handling and the match over.

So the Union survived being down one trainer to claim all three points in a wildly entertaining, if confusing match.  The win catapulted them past NYCFC and back into first.

The Quintessential Trap Match

After the thrill of the NYCFC win on Sunday, the trip to Chicago to face the last place Fire on Wednesday had all the makings of a trap game.  A short turnaround and a short bench with the kids (McGlynn, Sullivan and Aaronson) away on international duty (U20 CONCACAF) didn't help.  The Przycago squad featured two Union alums in CATSpurr shuhBILLkoh and Fabian Herbers.  Even with the short rest, Curtin started the same XI again.  Except for a few minutes in the first half, there wasn't too much offensive punch.  Chicago weren't much better but did get a goal in the 67th minute.  When Martinez got himself a second yellow at 72 minutes, the nine game unbeaten streak looked in jeopardy.  There was a penalty shout when Burke looked to have been fouled in the box but the claim was dismissed without a trip to the monitor.  The xG was .7 to .5, which tells you pretty much how unexciting this match was.  WL is better than DD but with the NY win already in the bag, WD or WW were on the table.  That was deflating.

Redo the Halftime Talk

On Wednesday, NYCFC was about to head into the locker room down 0-3 at halftime to Cincinnati.  They proceeded to score at 45, 45+2 and 45+7 (a little stoppage time there).  I'm assuming it made Nick Cushing's halftime team talk a lot easier.  NY even came out and took the lead at 52 minutes before Brenner completed his hat trick at 70 minutes to level things.  Sounds like a lot more fun than the Union match.

The draw kept NYCFC from passing the Union in the standings.  However, Montreal did get a road victory at Seattle and sit atop the division.  The Red Bulls got a home win against Atlanta to also move past the Union.  Here's the thing - all three have 29 points but the other two have more wins than the Union.  All those draws hurt the points total but also put them in a weaker position on tie breakers.  Somehow, that seems ironic.  

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Looks like somebody reads this blog

So last week we posted about the production problems at the sausage sandwich stand behind Section 104 at Subaru Park.  I guess management heard our complaints.  Jeff H and I arrived about 30 minutes before game time to find no line, a full complement of sweet or spicy sausages ready and waiting as well as plenty of peppers and onions.  We got our sandwiches in mere minutes.  The buns were not toasted but everything else was just as you would want.  If I knew it was this easy to get things changed, I'd have said something long ago.  

Newcastle Get Their (Bot)man

This one feels important.  Newcastle had been clear in their desire to sign Sven Botman from Lille but couldn't seem to get the deal over the line; with AC Milan also interested, I was never fully confident this would happen.  The 22 year-old center back will shore up the Magpie defense.  With Targett and Pope previously signed, this has already been a pretty good window.  Adding a winger like Rapinho, Diaby or even Ekitike would make it about as good as we could have asked for.

 

Bucket List Denied

Richarlison is taking his baggage to London

It's no secret that Dennis and I don't like Richarlison.  Not much of team player, an inflated view of his talents and prone to on-field theatrics.  This article makes several of the same points about him.  Dennis has tickets to the July 20th friendly between Minnesota United FC and Everton at Allianz Field and was so looking forward to booing him in person.  Except, Spurs just announced that they have have agreed in principle to a £60 million transfer fee to acquire Richarlison from Everton.  Dennis is not happy, noting "now I am seeing a bad MLS team play a bad EPL team with no upside."

I, on the other hand, am thrilled because I'd seen a few too many articles linking him to Newcastle.  We have dodged that bullet.

Hello Columbus

No rest for the Union as they are back in action Saturday night, again on short rest and again without the kids. Having beaten Costa Rica 2-0 on Tuesday - with Paxten Aaronson scoring both goals - they play Friday night in Honduras, against Honduras in the CONCACAF U20 semi-final.  If they win that one, the final is Sunday.

Though this isn't the best Columbus side, Saturday looks like a tough test for the Union.  In fact, 538 has the Crew favored 42/30/28.  Three would be great but one may be all we should hope for.  That game is 7:30 on PHL.  

Sorry, no book review this week.