Cavan debuts and Union rout Revs in first home win since March 

Coming into their match with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night, the Philadelphia Union were winless in their last 10 matches. During that stretch, the Union were outscored 20 to 12, and conceded four goals in three separate matches.Their last win before the historically awful 10-match spell? A 3-0 win over the Revs on May 18. Two months without three points. 

However, on Wednesday night, the odds were in the Union’s favor from the jump. When MLS posted the matchday injury report, the Revs had seven players listed “out,” and an additional five listed as “questionable.”  

And the day before the match, in a pleasant surprise for Union fans, head coach Jim Curtin announced that 14-year-old academy standout, Cavan Sullivan, would be in the matchday squad to face the Revs. Coming off goals in back to back matches for Union 2, Curtin said Cavan had “earned the right to be in the 20.” Things were looking up for a team that really had nowhere else to look – as they found themselves sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table less than two full calendar years removed from an MLS Cup Final appearance.  

But from the opening whistle Wednesday, it looked like the Union would do everything in their power to change their recent fortunes. In the 2nd minute, Kai Wagner curled a free kick into the box and Jack Elliott’s effort slammed off the crossbar. Warning shot. 

The Union were constantly applying pressure on the New England backline, and in the 29th minute, they broke the deadlock. Elliott got a hold of another Wagner free kick, but this time, he knocked the ball across the box for a well-positioned Tai Baribo, who headed home his fourth goal of the season. 

In the 39th minute, the Boys in Blue struck again. From another Wagner set-piece, Jakob Glesnes redirected the corner with a glancing header into the back of the net to double the Union’s advantage. However, the Union had blown three second half leads in each of their last three losses, so they knew they could not take their feet off the pedal yet. 

And just five minutes later, they dealt a crushing blow to the Revs just before the half. Bedoya curled a ball into the right channel, where Mikael Uhre did a great bit of work to get onto the ball and fly by a Revs defender before cutting the ball back to Baribo in the box, who took his chance again and extended the Union lead to 3-0. Should Revs goalkeeper, Aljaž Ivačič, have done more to save Baribo’s effort? Sure. Do we care? Not even a little bit. Much needed breathing room heading into the break.

The Union began the second half the same way they started the match – on the front foot. In the 47th minute, José Martínez curled an inviting ball into the back post that somehow eluded every Union player waiting in the box and slapped off the right post. 

But four minutes later, Ian Harkes found a bit of space on the edge of the area for the Revs and belted home their opening goal of the match. 3-1. Game on.

Well – briefly. Within a minute of Harkes’s goal for New England, the Union went on the counter attack, and Wagner again delivered a peach into the path of Baribo, who took the ball down deftly and then smashed home his third goal of the match to complete his first MLS hat trick. The ball from Wagner, the touch and finish from Baribo – it was all a work of art. It felt like the Union of old were once again right before our eyes. The Union that could break down any backline and score goals at will. 

The game fell into a lull for a bit, and then Quinn Sullivan happened. After subbing into the match in the 71st minute for Uhre, he made quick work of the Revs defense. In the 84th minute, he latched onto a long ball from Glesnes, picked his head up, sorted his feet and dispatched an absolute rocket into the back of the net. 5-1 Union. Goodnight.

Well, not quite. There was one more milestone Wednesday night. In the 85th minute, while Subaru Park was still shaking from the aftermath of his brother’s screamer, Cavan Sullivan entered the match as a substitute to become the youngest debutant in North American major league team sports at 14 years and 293 days old. And although his time on the pitch was short and mostly uneventful, he did pick the ball up in the 90+3 minute in a bit of space on the left wing, drove at the Revs backline and ripped a shot on target from distance. He gave Union fans a taste of the quality that is to come from the young lad and some hope for the future at a time in the club’s history where both quality and hope have been especially sparse. 

On the whole, a dominant night for a team that desperately needed it. And with the win, the Union snuck past the Revs in the Eastern Conference table and somehow sit just three points back of the 9th-place playoff spot. 

Their next chance to climb the table will be Saturday at Subaru Park against Nashville.