Union make it three in a row with 2-0 win in frigid Foxborough

It took until the 76th minute but the Philadelphia Union got another goal from the Tai Baribo and Kai Wagner connection and Jovan Lukic added a late exclamation point to a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

Battling cold weather and a well organized Revs team that despite not having a goal to their name had conceded just once in the first two, the Union attack wasn’t as sharp in the first half but still created a number of chances, including a Daniel Gazdag shot set up by Olwethu Makhanya in the box.

The Union defense was called upon numerous times with Carles Gil pulling the strings for the Revs attack and Ilay Feingold finding passing angles while sustaining some stretches of possession for the hosts but it was the standout performance of Makhanya and key interventions from Jakob Glesnes that kept the score zeros going into halftime.

That theme would carry over into a second half that increasingly looked like it might be heading to a stalemate. Andre Blake had one diving stop to make for his only save of the game but the credit for that also goes to the defensive work from the back line and holding mids Lukic and Danley Jean Jacques.

Down the other end, the Union were dangerous with the ball in transition and outshot the hosts 19-9 but didn’t see the payoff until Baribo was able to get on the end of a Wagner cross and head it off the back post and in. The play started with a Wagner corner and was Baribo’s sixth goal in three games to start the season, tying a record for most goals scored in the first three games of the season set 26 years ago by Ante Razov. The assist was Wagner’s fourth of the year and third to set up a Baribo goal.

Head coach Bradley Carnell went to his bench to close out the game, bringing in Alejandro Bedoya for Baribo and newcomers Bruno Damiani and Indiana Vassilev and it was Bedoya and Vassilev combining to set up a Goal of the Week candidate scored by Jovan Lukic in the 7th minute of stoppage time.

Carnell’s early tenure thus far has been a charmed one with injury replacements (Makhanya and Frankie Westfield) playing well, subs performing off the bench and the pressure dial he’s turned up to 11 producing memorable moments in each of the first three weeks en route to nine points. Revs head coach Caleb Porter gave him the toughest test to date – unlike in the first two games there were no gift-wrapped goals – and forced the team to grind out a result but the player celebrations at the end illustrate just how much another three points means to a team that clearly has bought into the direction the club is heading.

Three games a season does not make, but 9 points out of 9 to start the year is a feat no other Union squad has achieved and definitely not the way many predicted a team that limped out of the postseason just a few months ago would start a campaign.

The rejuvenated Union will look to keep rolling as they return home for a Sunday matinee against Nashville SC a week from tomorrow.