2 weeks Ago By Matthew DeGeorge
The soccer staffers who work in Chester have been sure since the first day of this season that the Union should be a playoff team. The MLS standings have taken some convincing on the matter. In a run of one win in 17 matches from April to July, the eye test was one of many things the club failed.
But Wednesday night, for the first time in three months, Jim Curtin’s head hit the pillow with his team in playoff position. It all remains tenuous, no matter how emphatic the 5-1 Bronx beatdown delivered to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. But for the first time in a long time, Union members have their heads above water and above the playoff line, with a chance to consolidate gains in the difficult part of a schedule that now eases.
“(I’m) really proud of the group,” Curtin said. “I think that they’ve had a playoff mindset and a playoff intensity, because we’ve put ourselves in a situation where we have to find ways to take points in hard places to play like this. To score five goals on the road, the players deserve all the credit.
” The Union (8-12-9, 33 points) move into ninth place, the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It’s the first time they’ve been above the playoff line at the end of a round since June 15. They are even on points with their next opponent, D.
C. United, and three behind eight-place Toronto with a game in hand. After months fighting for control of their destiny, the Union have it.
They are 4-2-0 in their last six games, with wins at both New York teams. Those are their only league victories against teams placed higher than eighth in their conference. A return of six points from four games against top-five teams in the East – and four solid performances, even in losses to Columbus and Miami – has restored solid footing.
They now get the chance to distance the pack. Sunday is a visit from 10th-place D.C.
The next weekend brings 11th-place Atlanta United. Wins in both and they could challenge Toronto (eighth with 36 points) and Charlotte (seventh on 38). Of course, for a team with 20 points on the road and just 13 at home, nothing is quite so straightforward.
“This win means nothing if we don’t go home and take care of business now in our next two big games,” Curtin cautioned. “But certainly it’s a big step forward and a really good win.” It was definitely big – as in the biggest home loss for NYCFC since the 2016 MLS Cup playoffs and its first four-goal loss home or away in MLS since 2019.
The five different goal-scorers gave the Union their first away game of more than three goals scored since the fervid summer of 2022. The Union’s reconstructed Big 3 of Mikael Uhre, Tai Baribo and Daniel Gazdag scored in the same game for the first time. Uhre has goals in three straight games, the first time he’s done that since 2022, and has three goals and three assists in his last six MLS appearances.
Baribo has 15 goals and two assists in his last 17 games. He had played 161 minutes in all competitions in his first 10 months with the Union before Julian Carranza’s departure forced him into the lineup. The Union that maddeningly conceded first in eight of its first 12 league games and 11 of 16 overall has scored first in six of the last seven.
They stunned NYCFC with three goals in the first 32 minutes Wednesday. On the postage stamp in the Bronx where every long ball is a cross into the box, the Union recognized three goals at halftime might not be enough, underscored by Alonso Martinez’s goal on the stroke of halftime to cleave the deficit to 3-1. They kept attacking after the break, and Jakob Glesnes’ header off a corner in the 74th minute was, Curtin joked, the best defense the center back could’ve offered.
They also got a heroic performance from Andrew Rick, who made seven saves, one bailing out a Nathan Harriel defensive effort to land on SportsCenter’s Top 10. “That’s what Andrew has in his skillset,” Curtin said. “He made some big saves tonight when we needed the most.
And he’s going to get better and better. But he is 18, and in goalkeeping, that is about as young as it gets.” The Union’s goal differential of plus-6 is tied for fifth-best in the East, 21 goals better than Toronto and 19 better than D.
C. Their 20 road points are fifth in the East. Yet at home, they are 3-7-4.
If they win their remaining three home games, they will end up in the playoffs. “It’s a really good team,” Curtin said. “It’s a team that’s together.
It’s a team that’s not happy where we are in the standings, but people will remember how you finish.”.
