Union survive Leagues Cup chaos with 3-1 home win against Club Tijuana

It was another crazy Saturday night in Chester.

In Philadelphia’s first appearance in the new midseason Leagues Cup tournament Saturday night in Chester against Liga MX side Club Tijuana, the Union came out victorious winning 3-1 thanks to a PK goal from Daniel Gazdag, a brace from Julian Carranza, and a pair of red cards against Tijuana – one in each half of the match.

Union manager Jim Curtin started in a 4-4-2 formation with a starting XI that featured three reserves intertwined with the usual starters. Quinn Sullivan started alongside Julian Carranza up top while Jack McGlynn and Jesus Bueno started on the edges of the midfield diamond in place of team captain Alejandro Bedoya and Leon Flach.

Philadelphia started on the front foot, creating a few half chances within the first 5 minutes of the match.

Tijuana then found a spark in the 17th minute when Jesus Vega darted forward up the left wing and sent a cross to the box for Alexis Canelo. Canelo missed right and the chance failed.

But just one minute later, Carranza created havoc of his own during an effective counter-attack moment that earned a penalty kick and forced Tijuana Nicolas Diaz to take a foul and a subsequent red card. Gazdag then buried the penalty kick chance securing an early 1-0 lead and a massive man advantage the remainder of the match for Philadelphia.

Gazdag remains perfect on the year, banging home a total of eight straight penalty kick goals across all competitions. His eighth PK goal sparked a massive momentum shift just 20 minutes into the match.

The floodgates nearly opened following Gazdag’s goal thanks to a beautiful offensive move that sprung Mbaizo forward along the right wing in the 23rd minute. Mbaizo’s cross created a pinball effect which generated five chances for Philadelphia in as many seconds, buy no goal to show for it.

Then… the floodgates actually opened. Carranza found a goal of his own in the 28th minute after finding himself in a perfect position inside the box sandwiched between both Tijuana’s center backs. A deflected pass landed at his feet which he then calmly turned and slotted past the keeper for Philadelphia’s second goal creating an enormous early advantage.

A 35th minute yellow card to Philadelphia’s Jose Martinez and a great move by Tijuana off a throw-in to force a save by Andre Blake in the 36th minute shifted the needle slightly back toward Tijuana’s side. Tijuana then managed to create six shots to close out the half, forcing Blake into making two saves including a highlight reel one-handed stop in the 5th minute of first-half stoppage time. Philadelphia narrowly escaped the first half with the 2-0 lead intact.

That lead wouldn’t last long in the second half though.

Tijuana punched Philadelphia right in the mouth with a 47th minute goal thanks to poor defending. Carlos Gonzalez blasted a left-footed shot from inside the box assisted by Francisco Contreras to make it 2-1. Contreras entered as a second half sub and made an immediate impact on the goal.

The wheels then fell off a bit for Philadelphia moments later when Mbaizo was whistled for a foul inside the box which granted Tijuana a penalty kick chance in the 48th minute. Mbaizo kicked Canelo on the edge of the box on a clearance attempt and after VAR review a penalty kick was awarded.

However, Blake was up to the task with yet another highlight reel moment when he bailed Philadelphia out with a stellar save on the PK attempt. All was not lost after all.

Chaos erupted once again on the night after Mikael Uhre entered for Sullivan in the 55th minute. Uhre was in behind on a long ball attempt and was dragged down by Kevin Balanta. Balanta received a red card increasing Philadelphia’s man advantage for the remainder of the match. VAR review upheld the call and Philadelphia was awarded a free kick just outside the box, but no goal resulted.

To make this first Leagues Cup match for Philadelphia even more interesting, Tijuana needed to swap goalkeepers in the 68th minute due to an injury.

Back-up keeper Jesus Corona stood no chance in the 71st minute when Carranza bagged a brace with his second goal from inside the box off an assist from Bueno. Gazdag’s entry ball to Carranza sparked a beautiful give and go combination with Bueno to create space for Carranza to take the shot. The lead once again doubled to 3-1.

Curtin then wisely went to the bench again in the 78th minute when he swapped Jakob Glesnes and Martinez for Damion Lowe and Matt Real to preserve key players for a quick turnaround Wednesday night against another Liga MX side Queretaro at home.

A roller coaster match that featured 2 red cards, a yellow card to Tijuana head coach Piojo Herrera, a goalkeeper substitution, a saved PK, and a PK goal ended with Philadelphia on top.

In the end, that’s all that mattered Saturday night as the match ended 3-1.