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Philadelphia Union

Baribo penalty, Rick heroics lift Union into first place

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A second half penalty for Tai Baribo off the bench and three key saves from Andrew Rick led the Philadelphia Union to a season sweep of Atlanta United and a 1-0 win at Mercedes Benz Stadium on Saturday night in Atlanta.

Head coach Bradley Carnell rotated his squad and experimented with some different looks in the match that comes in the midst of a heavy month of May that includes another midweek game in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday. Bruno Damiani, Mikael Uhre and Chris Donovan all started in the match and it was Damiani who nearly put the visitors in front on a chance that was denied by a finger tip save from veteran Brad Guzan. Rick made a finger tip save of his own in the first half to deny Pedro Almador a volleyed strike reminiscent of Quinn Sullivan’s goal in the previous meeting between the two teams at Subaru Park in April.

Unlike that game – a 3-0 Union win – the three points were not easy to come by in Atlanta Saturday and it was a mistake in the back for the Five Stripes and a penalty called after video review that led to the game’s only goal. Guzan, who had a strong game otherwise, misplayed a ball over the top and Mikael Uhre had his shot on the empty goal blocked by a sliding Luis Abram but the Danish striker immediately threw up his hands calling for a handball. The video review confirmed that the ball had hit Abram’s hand as he slid in and Baribo stepped to the spot just before the hour mark to convert past a diving Guzan for his 11th of the season.

Playing the last half hour with the lead – and fresh legs off the bench – the Union bent but didn’t break under the waves of pressure from Atlanta, which forced Rick into two saves, Nathan Harriel into a key block and had their second bid of the game on a headed chance go wide of the target from Emmanuel Latte Lath. Jamal Thiaré had a free header goes just wide of the goal in the 31st minute.

Nine minutes of stoppage time gave Atlanta multiple opportunities to find an equalizer and it was right there for center back Derrick Williams in the final minute of stoppage time but Rick was able to make himself big yet again and deny Williams a deflating equalizer.

The win puts the Union at the top of the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings with 9-2-3 W-D-L record and 29 points. They are even with FC Cincinnati on points and two points clear of Columbus Crew with their next league match a visit from fifth place Inter Miami next Saturday. The Union stretched their unbeaten match streak to six games and have set a new record for start to a season through 14 matches with 29 points. The club’s previous best was 28 points in their Supporters’ Shield winning season in 2020.

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now. He's covered soccer at all levels for a decade in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

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