New formations, chest-puffing and body-slamming: Union get an ugly win in the Mile High City

In a match that never really felt comfortable, the Philadelphia Union braved the altitude, a slick pitch and a chippy Colorado Rapids squad to snatch all 3 points at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. 

And before the strange twists and turns of the actual match even began, the Union were faced with a bit of adversity. 

With forward Mikael Uhre out with a knee injury and midfielder Jose “el Brujo” Martinez still dealing with a lingering hamstring injury, head coach Jim Curtin was forced to make changes to the team sheet. He decided to set the Union up in a 3-5-2 formation with three center backs and two wing backs, giving Union fans their first glimpse of Damion Lowe, Jakob Glesnes and Jack Elliott all on the pitch at the same time. The formation also gave the wing backs, Kai Wagner and Olivier Mbaizo, a bit of freedom to get into more advanced positions on the flanks and join the attack with more defensive cover. 

And while there were a few scares early in the match, including a shot from Rapids forward Kevin Cabral that required a majestic Andre Blake save, the Union seemed to be dangerous in their new formation. Wagner and Mbaizo were getting into dangerous areas behind the Colorado midfield and creating chances, which forced the Rapids backline to respect them, creating space down the middle of the pitch. 

This led to Jack McGlynn picking his head up in the 16th minute and playing a beautifully shaped ball that curled directly into the path of a darting Julian Carranza, who poked the ball around Colorado goalkeeper William Yarborugh to get a glimpse of goal, but shot the ball just wide of the open net. 

But in the 35th minute, against the run of play, Damion Lowe fouled Colorado’s Diego Rubio on the edge of the penalty area for what initially seemed to be a free kick right on the edge of the box. However, after intervention from VAR, the referee decided that the foul actually occurred just inside the box, and he awarded Colorado a penalty kick. Ex-Wolverhampton Wanderer, Connor Ronan, calmly stepped up to the spot and smashed the ball into the top bin to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute. 

But less than 10 minutes later, from a Julian Carranza layoff, Kai Wagner unleashed an absolute screamer into the back of the Colorado net to give the Union a well-deserved equalizer that leveled the match at 1-1 just before the half. All level at the break.

The Union came out firing in the second half. And in the 52nd minute, McGlynn played another beautifully weighted pass into the right channel for Mbaizo, who cut the ball back to Carranza on the edge of the penalty area, and he put the ball into the back of the net to give the Union a 2-1 lead. 

That, for the most part, was the end of the attacking fun for the Union. The remainder of the match was primarily a defensive effort, as Colorado began to control possession and threaten the Union backline again and again. In the 62nd minute, Andre Blake was forced to make a pair of fantastic saves, while also drawing a yellow card on a late challenge from Cabral. 

Just five minutes later, a Ronan free kick was headed down into the path of Cabral, whose effort went sailing over the bar. 

Then, the Rapids best chance to level the match came in the 89th minute, when Colorado substitute Braian Galvan sent a tantalizing ball across the face of the goal that somehow went untouched. Crisis after crisis averted for the Union. 

Moments later, things took a turn for the ugly. 

In added time, after a ball bounced over Blake’s head and over the endline, Rapids forward Michael Barrios shoved Blake, causing a full-team brawl. Elliott, Glesnes and Lowe came to Blake’s defense, each taking turns bumping Barrios to the ground. Then chaos ensued. Seemingly every player on the pitch began pushing, shoving, body-slamming and tackling each other. It was nearly a full-on WWE match. 

The altercation resulted in bookings galore. Red cards were issued to Colorado’s Galvan and the Union’s Jesus Bueno, while yellow cards were given to Elliott and Glesnes for the Union and Barrios for Colorado.  

But most importantly, after all the chest-puffing and card-giving was finally over, the referee blew the final whistle, and the Union claimed a much needed win on the road. 

Next up: a rivalry match with DC United at home on Wednesday, May 17.