Red card helps Union eliminate New England, 1-0

A playoff series with as much acrimony as the New England Revolution and the Philadelphia Union have accrued would seem destined to turn on a red card.

That happened Wednesday night at Foxborough, when Mark-Anthony Kaye’s stomp of Daniel Gazdag led to his dismissal just before halftime, paving the way for Chris Donovan’s goal in the 79th minute to give the Union a 1-0 win and a 2-0 victory in the best-of-3 series.

The fourth-seeded Union move on to face Supporters’ Shield winner FC Cincinnati in a one-off conference semifinal. That game will be at TQL Stadium on Nov. 25 or 26.

The game shifted just before halftime. Kaye fouled Gazdag from behind near midfield, and then tried to climb over him to get to the loose ball before play was blown dead. Instead of a direct line toward the ball, the Canadian left his spikes in it, stomping down on Gazdag’s chest on the way.

It looked fairly innocuous in real time, but on video review, referee Drew Fischer didn’t take long to go to his pocket for a red card. In a series that included a three-game suspension for the Union’s Kai Wagner for using a racial slur in Game 1, tensions were already running high.

Even before the red, matters were fairly even. The Union had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes, with Nathan Harriel, who scored in the first leg and replaced Wagner at left back, striking the post off a corner in the 27th. Quinn Sullivan, starting for the injured Julian Carranza, had a couple of solid chances, including a header wide in the 57th minute.

The Union struggled to press their advantage up a man. But they brought on Donovan and Joaquin Torres in the 67th. Gazdag won a free kick on the edge of the area, Tomas Chancalay clumsily bundling him over. Jack McGlynn played a hard and low ball through the area from the right side of the 18. Donovan got just a glancing touch on it, leaving goalie Earl Edwards Jr. marooned at the wrong post. It’s Donovan’s fourth goal in all competitions for the Union.

The Revs ended up with 57.7 percent of the possession but just eight shots to the Union’s 19. The Revs had three on target, all handled by Andre Blake with relative ease.