Union II Beat 10 Man Chattanooga FC 3-1 in First Meeting Between the Sides

Thursday night brought some midweek MLS Next Pro action for Marlon LeBlanc and his Union II side, with them returning home to Subaru Park and welcoming Chattanooga FC for the first-ever game between the two sides.

Union II vs Chattanooga FC Recap

Chattanooga FC has enjoyed a great start to their MLS Next Pro life, sitting in 4th place and going toe-to-toe with LeBlanc’s Union II side in the standings outside of the 2-game losing streak they enter this game on. With a win tonight, LeBlanc’s side can go 10 points clear of their opponent and stretch their advantage to 6 points from 2nd place Cincinnati 2.

Marlon LeBlanc has a full roster available to him again, outside of Andrew Rick Jr who is currently on a good spell with the senior team in the MLS. With that, Markus Anderson and Davis III lead the line, with Cavan Sullivan retaining his starting lineup spot after scoring his first-ever goal for the team last weekend.

CJ Olney, David Vazquez, and Sanders Ngabo all started the game too, with Mike Sheridan taking Rick’s place in goal. U17’s goalkeeper Gavin Atkinson was on the bench, alongside Jamir Johnson and Marlon’s own son Kellan LeBlanc.

Union II started the game on top, and after a header from a free kick went soaring over the bar, Marlon LeBlanc’s men only had to wait a few more minutes to open the scoring just 5 minutes into the game. After some calm buildup play, CJ Olney broke down the left flank and put in a phenomenal ground ball across to Eddy Davis, who slid and slotted the ball past the oncoming keeper to put Union II 1-0 up.

After taking a 1-0 lead, Union II decided to do what every football team in the world seems to do when they take a narrow lead and that’s to sit back and invite pressure. Chattanooga had gained control of the game but never truly threatened in the 10-15 minutes after going 1-0 down. Their buildup play in midfield was top quality but nothing was happening in the final third for them.

Chattanooga continued with their control over the game but without really creating anything of note, Union II’s back 4 was dealing with them comfortably, up until just after the half-hour mark when Chattanooga found an equalizer, Duvan Mina rose up as a corner came in and headed into the far corner.

Chattanooga was the team that had the best chance following their equalizing goal as they found themselves one-on-one with Mike Sheridan, but the Philly keeper produced a great stop to keep his team level heading into the halftime break.

Two Union II goals in the second half

We had a repeat of the first half in the opening minutes of the 2^nd half as Union II restored their lead with a goal 5 minutes after the restart. After another great bit of buildup play down the left flank, the ball fell to Cavan Sullivan, who slotted home at a tight angle near the front post for his 2^nd goal in 2 games, his first goal at Subaru Park.

53 minutes into the game Marlon LeBlanc makes his first substitute of the game, with Carlos Rojas coming off and Jamir Berdecio replacing him. David Vazquez had a great chance to get a 3^rd for Philly, but he blasted his shot over the bar.

Utter chaos commenced in the 65^th minute after a back pass from a Chattanooga defender didn’t reach the goalkeeper and a Union II forward latched onto it. Chattanooga goalkeeper Jean Antoine came flying out and completely cleared him out, inside the box. The referee awarded a free kick and a yellow card initially, one of the worst decisions I’ve seen in a long time.

A couple of minutes later, the referee decided to retract the yellow card initially given to Antoine and instead send the goalkeeper off, at least repairing one of the horrid decisions they made during the game.

Marlon LeBlanc made a couple of changes shortly before the free kick was taken with Leandro Soria and Kyle Tucker entering the field for the two goal scorers Cavan Sullivan and Eddy Davis. 2 minutes after coming on, Leandro Soria found himself on the scoresheet after finishing off a deflected initial attempt from Philly. 3-1 was the scoreline and it looked certain that Marlon LeBlanc’s men would extend their lead at the top of the table to 6 points.

77 minutes into the game Union II made their 4^th substitute with David Vazquez being replaced by Nick Pariano. Chattanooga came close to getting a 2^nd in the game, a goal that would have been a mirror image of their 1^st goal but this time, the header went over the bar.

Leandro Soria came close to adding a 4^th for Philly, and a 2^nd for himself at two different occasions, the first he was denied by a great save, and the 2^nd chance was stopped by a great tackle for a defender. Marlon LeBlanc made a final sub in added time, bringing on Randy Meneses for Sanders Ngabo, and Union II saw out the win and extended their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 6 points ahead of the rest of the league’s weekend action.