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By way of something close to apology, Jim Curtin has offered a recurrent bit of solace in the last few weeks. While his Union players were drawing plenty and finding too few wins for anyone’s tastes, Curtin at least was content that his team was tough to beat.
Wednesday night in New England, with a little help from the home team’s lack of composure, the Union proved that again, and it was enough to advance in the postseason.
Mark-Anthony Kaye’s red card in the 45th minute and Chris Donovan’s goal in the 79th sent the Union to a 1-0 win in Game 2 of their best-of-3 sweep of the New England Revolution. But more than those two high points was the constant solidity of a team, even one down three key pieces.
“We have a group of guys that a little bit had their backs against the wall, missing a lot of top players in the group and that just refused to lose,” Curtin said. “I’m really proud of our players for the effort they put in. There was some noise from the New England locker room before the game, and you saw a good response from our team on the field.”
The group was without Jakob Glesnes (sports hernia surgery), Julian Carranza (hamstring) and Kai Wagner (racial slur in Game 1). But with Nathan Harriel starting on his weak side, Quinn Sullivan up top and a new formation at a key moment, the fourth-seeded Union remained stout defensively and applied enough attacking pressure to help a tail-spinning Revs whir right out of the playoffs.
The game shifted in the 45th when Kaye shoved down Daniel Gazdag from behind and, while stepping over him, found the most direct route was over Gazdag’s chest. VAR spotted the truculence, and Drew Fischer offered Kaye his marching orders.
It shifted the numbers in the Union’s favor, but also sent the Revs after Fischer with more ferocity than they brought into either tackles or the attacking phase of the game. It completed a late-season freefall in which the fifth-seeded Revolution failed to replace their club-record signing in goalie Djordje Petrovic, saw both head coach/sporting director Bruce Arena and his interim replacement Richie Williams dismissed and went 3-5-3 down the stretch.
That was fine with Curtin, whose team kept its head at Foxborough, whatever the consequences of Wagner having not kept his in a verbal altercation with Bobby Wood in the previous game.
Instead of trying to vie with the Revs for decibel levels in Fischer’s face, the Union got on with it. They had arguably the better of play in the first half, even striking the woodwork via Harriel off a set piece, in a portion of the game they were content to see off scorelessly. Without Carranza, whose hamstring was a game-time decision that Curtin opted not to risk on the farcical Foxborough surface with an if-necessary Game 3 looming, Quinn Sullivan started up top and put in a solid 82-minute shift.
“His confidence is high,” Curtin said. “He worked really hard tonight. Did a good job buzzing around defensively, helped out.”
Curtin had few alternatives. The Union had allowed Tai Baribo to leave for international duty early, Israel’s window opened early after tensions in the Middle East postponed the last one. That left Mikael Uhre, Sullivan and Donovan for two starting spots.
Going with Sullivan gave Curtin a late-game option. When Uhre, who has gone the full 90 only twice this season, had run his race in the 67th minute, Curtin introduced Donovan and Joaquin Torres. The team flexed into a 4-2-3-1, once Curtin’s default shape but used only sparingly since Ernst Tanner took over and instituted a high-pressing style. With Sullivan wide and Torres able to have possession in an unusually ball-dominant game state, the Union could shift the numerical advantage with four attackers instead of three.
Torres, who hasn’t started since June 21, opened new lanes. He helped Gazdag draw a foul on the edge of the area, which Jack McGlynn served in and Donovan nudged home. Though just his fourth goal in all competitions, it’s Donovan’s second game-winner, the last coming in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal that all but guaranteed the Union a CONCACAF Champions League spot for next season.
“We were disciplined, we were composed and we found a way to win,” Curtin said. “It wasn’t pretty. I understand that. It wasn’t beautiful attacking transitions where we’re scoring three or four good goals, but we grounded out a win on the road, and that’s all it’s about.”
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