Structure and intensity bolstered Union in home opener win

In a match that left fellow Eastern Conference foe FC Cincinnati feeling suffocated for significant stretches, the Philadelphia Union intercepted 21 passes while scoring four goals thanks to a Tai Baribo hat trick and a debutant goal from Bruno Damiani during their 4-1 home opener win Saturday night. The club improved their home opening record to 8-4-4 with the win.

It’s worth noting that Cincinnati are currently juggling the start of their MLS season along with what they hope will be a successful run in the Concacaf Champions Cup. That added mental and physical load on former Union assistant coach Pat Noonan’s side likely aided Philadelphia  a bit Saturday night, although I’m not sure Noonan would be inclined to make any excuses for their performance.

Cincinnati were forced to build out of the back on the ground thanks to significant wind gusts which created unsavory conditions for both players, fans, and media alike. The inability to rely on long balls in the air greatly impacted their style of play, and Philadelphia took full advantage with their swarming press and high line of confrontation.

That high line at times featured four Union players with Baribo and fellow striker Mikael Uhre leading the way flanked by attacking-minded midfielders Daniel Gazdag and Quinn Sullivan.

Both Uhre and Baribo lead the charge and effectively cut off passing lanes to Cincinnati’s midfield options. And perhaps most importantly, Philadelphia now features two defensive midfielders atop the backline creating a second wave of defense. The Danley and Jovan Lukic partnership excelled allowing Philadelphia to play on the front foot from the opening whistle.

“They needed to be everywhere, and they were,” said Union Head Coach Bradley Carnell postgame regarding Danley and Lukic. “It’s a tough job for them, but you can see just by being proactive, on the jump, and being ready to forward defend and turn over the ball – I think we put on a really good display in the first half.”

Gazdag praised their play as well post-game, crediting their defensive efforts as a catalyst for a few of the transition goals that started the party in Chester on the way to a 4-1 win.

“The key was that we turned them over so many times in their own half,” said Gazdag. “They didn’t have enough guys behind the ball because they didn’t expect that we’d turn them over so many times.”

When asked what type of comfort and protection the defensive midfield duo provides the team as a whole, Gazdag highlighted their ability to inspire confidence in the team pressing structure.

“Danley and Jovan are doing a great job so far in these two games,” said Gazdag. “They cover a lot of distance and they’re always available to pass the ball to them. They gave us confidence as well that we can press and go forward because they are always going to be there behind us. It’s a really good thing and we would like to keep playing like that.”

And the main beneficiary of the successful pressing through the club’s first two regular season games so far has been Israeli international Tai Baribo.

While Baribo mentioned post-game that there is no major difference in terms of previous seasons and their style of play, he did hint that this year’s system promotes a higher intensity level.

“It’s not such a big difference,” said Baribo. “We still play with two strikers… We just play a little bit higher. We are adapting to this new philosophy. It’s a philosophy that presses a little bit higher with everyone not just the strikers,” the hat-trick hero continued. “We are really one unit. Fight with each other and pressing together. This is the recipe to succeed.”

And Philadelphia were cooking well with that recipe last night.

Baribo’s hat trick increases his total tally to five goals through the first two league games joining just three other payers in league history to accomplish that feat.

With a pair of goals on Matchday 1 & a hat trick tonight tonight, @PhilaUnion forward Tai Baribo became the fourth player in MLS history to score five goals in the first two games of a season, joining Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández (2021), Ayo Akinola (2020), & Brian Ching (2006). pic.twitter.com/Cgm5yBXZ21

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) March 2, 2025

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And lets not forget about the contributions made by left back Kai Wagner who created two of the four goals with his signature left-footed balls into the box. He routinely hounded Cincinnati along the left wing on both sides of the ball as usual. Quinn Sullivan also contributed with two assists of his own and quietly had a very productive outing, which should be no surprise as well.

Philadelphia’s center back partnership of Jakob Glesnes and the young 20-year old Olwethu Makhanya stuck to the game plan well enough to hold Cincinnati striker Kevin Denkey to just one shot – which came late in the game. Unfortunately for the defensive duo, Cincinnati has a near world-class playmaker named Evander, and he showed his class and skill late in the game creating a chance out of thin air with a stellar goal while falling down. That sullied the clean sheet opportunity for keeper Andre Blake but that goal isn’t really something to harp on considering the overall performance from the group.

It was a well-rounded effort with just a handful of mistakes to dwell on for Carnell and co. The win, and a significant one at that, should serve as the perfect antidote for any lingering bitterness that may still be on the minds of both fans and players alike following the disappointment of the 2024 season.

And it seemed like Carnell was aware of that heading into the match.

“We wanted to carry on from where we left off last week and just to show the fans and excite the crowd here of what we’ve been trying to craft over the last couple of weeks,” said Carnell. “We are on our way to creating a signature, an identity of hunger on both sides of the ball and I think we could see that on display for many moments tonight… Congrats to the boys.”