Short-staffed Union grind out 0-0 draw against CF Pachuca at Subaru Park

Coming into Tuesday night’s Leg 1, Round of 16 matchup against CF Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the number one priority for Head Coach Jim Curtin was for his club to keep the Liga MX side off the scoreboard. It’s no easy feat for anyone facing the most potent team from Mexico, but a 0-0 draw from a makeshift lineup due to injuries and suspensions once again showed the resiliency this team is carrying early on in the 2024 season.

Union Starting XI

There were some changes to the Starting XI that we saw against Sporting Kansas City, mostly due to suspensions from both Jack Elliott (Red Card) and Damion Lowe (Yellow Card Accumulation), and an injury that kept striker Julian Carranza out of the match-day squad. Goalkeeper Andre Blake returned to availability for Union on Tuesday night.

Andre Blake returned between the posts after missing the previous 3 games with an adductor injury. A backline of Kai Wagner at LB, Jakob Glesnes and Nate Harriel at CB, and Olivier Mbaizo as the RB sat in front of Blake.

Jose Martinez was fit enough to play at the CDM position after being removed at half-time against SKC. Jack McGlynn maintained his spot on the left side of the midfielder, with Ale Bedoya earning his first start of the season on the right. Daniel Gazdag, Quinn Sullivan, and Mikael Uhre were the attacking threat up top.

The options on the bench included: GK Oliver Semmle, LB Matt Real, CB Olwethu Makhanya, Midfielder Jesus Bueno, Midfielder Sanders Ngabo, Midfielders Nick Pariano, Midfielder Jeremy Rafanello, Striker Markus Anderson, Striker Chris Donovan, and Striker Tai Baribo.

It was the fifth consecutive start for both Jack McGlynn and Nate Harriel, the only two players on Union’s roster to start all 5 games for Union so far this season.

Scoreless in the First 45

It looked like the typical 4-4-2 Diamond to start the game based on the lineup graphic that no longer shows the team’s formation, but Quinn Sullivan ended up dropping a bit underneath Mikael Uhre creating more of a 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree with no Julian Carranza in the lineup.

It almost worked out to perfection just 7 minutes in, when Quinn Sullivan carried the ball forward through the midfield and sent a through-ball that put Mikael Uhre in alone on the keeper, but Carlos Moreno came flying out to pressure Uhre and made the save in the process.

Just about 10 minutes later, Gazdag would send Uhre through with almost an identical pass and a second opportunity at giving Union the lead. The Danish forward tried dribbling around the keeper, but Moreno was up to the task once again and covered up Uhre’s attempt to keep the game level.

The rest of the first half was about Union surviving without conceding, and they just barely did. Minutes after Uhre’s second chance, Pachuca’s Idrissi drove down Union’s right side and played a ball into Erick Sanchez running into the box, but the ball was just in front of Sanchez causing him to lunge and send the attempt into the stands, wasting an opportunity to grab the important away goal for the Mexican side.

In the 34th minute, a turnover from Olivier Mbaizo sent Pachuca in alone on Andre Blake. Blake came rushing out of his net to challenge Erick Sanchez outside of the penalty area. Sanchez, who dribbled around Blake and seemingly had an open net to pass into, cut the ball back into the middle of the box for Salomon Rondon, whose attempt was blocked by a sliding Kai Wagner.

And just before half-time, Union caught their biggest break of the game when a handball correctly called against Nate Harriel was taken away after VAR had concluded there was a handball committed by Pachuca earlier in the buildup.

The two teams somehow go into the break level at zero.

Short-Rest Union survives the Second Half

Much like the final 25 minutes of the first half, most of the first 25-30 minutes in the 2nd half was spent surviving for Union – by any means necessary. Kai Wagner came up with a huge block inside the 6-yard box on Miguel Rodriguez just 7 minutes into the 2nd half to keep things level, and Union survived another close-call minutes later when Idrissi cut inside on Olivier Mbaizo and let a right-footed shot fly from the left side that just barely missed the far bottom corner to Andre Blake‘s left.

Around the 77th-minute mark, a tired Union team conjured up their best chance to take a 1-0 lead down to Mexico when Quinn Sullivan ran onto a deep ball down the right side. Sullivan drove down the right, waited for Uhre to make his run towards the front of the net, and sent in a fizzing cross. The pass was too close to Moreno for Uhre to get onto, but Moreno mishandled the hard cross and spilled the ball out into the middle of the box for an awaiting Daniel Gazdag.

With a 1-0 lead staring Gazdag in the face, Carlos Moreno came rushing and applied enough pressure to force Gazdag’s chip attempt to land on top of the netting rather than underneath the cross-bar. Moreno deserves a lot of credit for coming out quickly and cutting down the angle, but you’ve got to hit the net and force the keeper to make a save there, in my opinion. If that chip attempt goes in, we’re probably talking about how much class he showed with that goal, but it didn’t – you have to hit the net and force a save from the keeper there.

Takeaways

That would pretty much do it for Leg 1 at Subaru Park. A bit of a boring match, compared to what we’ve had to quickly off the 2024 campaign – but I think Union will be relatively happy with a scoreless draw here.

If you ask me, the performance on Tuesday night looked a lot like a team who was playing their 5th competitive match in 14 days – the fatigue surely caught up to them, especially late in the game. While Nate Harriel did a great job negating Damion Lowe and Jack Elliott’s suspensions and keeping Pachuca’s attack quiet, Julian Carranaz’s absence in the lineup was felt a little more. Perhaps on another night, Union can turn a 0-0 draw into a 1-0 win with their clinical striker up top.

Jim Curtin noted post-match that playing against high-level competition like Pachuca is a great experience for young players like Quinn Sullivan, Jack McGlynn, and Nate Harriel – who did a fantastic job filling in at CB on Tuesday night. It acts as a huge stepping stone for the young guys, and Curtin knows it’s huge for their confidence and development.

“For them to play in this game, it is incredibly valuable. I cannot replicate that in training.”

Many pointed out the lack of subs by Head Coach Jim Curtin on Tuesday night – just Jesus Bueno for Ale Bedoya in the 74th minute, and Markus Anderson for Quinn Sullivan in the 87th minute. But at the same time, who else can Jim Curtin realistically bring on late that he trusts against a dangerous team in a very delicate game?

With both Quinn Sullivan and Ale Bedoya starting, the options left on the bench after the 2 changes made were Matt Real, Nick Pariano, Sanders Ngabo, Jeremey Rafanello, Olwethu Makhanya, Tai Baribo, and Chris Donovan – no one that exactly screams late game difference maker, with the exception of maybe…CHRIS DONOVAN????

The club let both Andres Parea and Joaquin Torres walk during the off-season, but seemingly have little interest in replacing those names with experienced players in the squad. I can’t help but feel like last night was the perfect example of why Union could use some additional reinforcements to the squad if they truly have ambitions of turning one of these high-quality experiences into a trophy.

When Andre Blake was asked by Jose Nunez after the game if the club had done enough to stock this team properly for another busy 2024 season, his response was political by nature, but rather telling at the same time.

“I don’t want to get in any trouble, but time will tell. I’ll just say, time will tell. Let’s see.”

One thing that must be noted, however, is the resiliency this team is showing early in the 2024 season. The no-quit, under-dog mentality is overtly present through 5 games:

come-from-behind win @ Saprissa
come-from-behind, stoppage time equalizer for a draw vs Chicago
Stoppage time goal in Extra Time against Saprisss to advance in CCC
stoppage time equalizer @ SKC
0-0 vs Pachuca with suspensions to Lowe and Elliott and an injury to Carranza

Looking Forward

Union will take the 0-0 draw down to Pachuca next Tuesday at 8:15 pm with a small advantage in their pocket. Of course, going down to Mexico and getting a result is no easy task but by holding Pachuca to a scoreless draw and not allowing them to grab an away goal in Leg 1, Union now set themselves up for a chance to advance next Tuesday with a win or a draw in which Union score a goal. Only a Pachuca win sends Union home, and a 0-0 draw would force Extra Time.

But before that, Union must switch their focus once again – this time to a visiting Seattle Sounders side making their first trip to Subaru Park since 2019. Union will look for their first win of 2024 in MLS play this Saturday at 7:30 pm at Subaru Park.