The Philadelphia Union edged past Atlas of Guadalajara 1-0 in the first leg of the Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League at Subaru Park Tuesday evening. Daniel Gazdag took a beating for most of the game before scoring on a penalty kick to break the scoreless draw with the Liga MX squad late in the second half to give the Union the advantage going into the second leg next week.
A free kick from the right side by Joaquín Torres in the 15th minute went above the pack finding Jakob Glesnes on the left side, but his shot was saved by Atlas goalie Camilo Vargas. Julián Quiñones had a chance for Atlas in the 25th minute and his shot was initially saved by Andre Blake, but Damion Lowe trying to chase down Quiñones accidentally crashed into Blake at the same time which knocked the ball loose for Quiñones to get up off the pitch and attempt another shot. Lowe had also gotten up quickly and was at the goal line while Blake was still down to save the certain goal and preserve the clean sheet for the time being. In the last few minutes before halftime things got testy as Julián Carranza was taken down in the 45th minute by Carlos Robles in the right side of the box but no foul was initially called.
The officials went to video review but even after the VAR the officials still ruled it no penalty. A few minutes later in the 4th minute of stoppage time Daniel Gazdag was pulled down from behind by Anderson Santamaría just inches outside of the penalty area. Santamaría was sent off with a straight red card for the vicious takedown with no play on the ball, leaving Atlas a man short for the rest of the game. This set up a Free Kick which Jack McGlynn faked a step towards the ball before Carranza ran up and took the kick instead but while his ball managed to make it through the pack, it hooked just outside the right post to send the match into halftime scoreless.
The second half started out without much development until the 54th minute when Gazdag was giving chase to a shot and Camilo Vargas crashed shoulder first into Gazdag while making the save, knocking him over but Vargas was not called for any penalty. In the 67th minute Mikael Uhre, fresh off the bench a few minutes prior, had a good look from the left side of the box but his shot bounced off the left post.
Things appeared to be heading towards a second scoreless draw in four days for the Union until the 87th minute when Carranza was in the box and Vargas collided with him in a play that looked quite similar to the play with Gazdag earlier in the half but this time the officials called the penalty on Vargas, setting up a penalty kick for the boys in blue. Gazdag naturally was called on for the PK in the 89th minute and sent it into the bottom right of the net just under a diving Vargas to send the Union into Leg 2 next week with the advantage.
At the postgame press conference, Union coach Jim Curtin respected the tough opponent, and was complimentary of the performance of one of his own players in particular, “Overall you give Atlas a lot of credit though, even down a man it was difficult to break them down. I think you saw that Quiñones is a very special player for them but I thought Damion Lowe on the night did a really good job in open space to shut down a very dangerous dynamic attacker.” Curtin continued, “I know we have our hands full when we go to Mexico but I think we’ve put ourselves in at least a position to have a chance and that’s a good thing, and not conceding (a goal) is a very big part of that…Overall, I’m happy with the performance, I know we can play better. We’re still early in the season, but these Champions League games have an extra level of intensity and that’s a good, healthy thing for us to have at this stage of the season.”
Damion Lowe said this game was a confidence booster for the squad, especially having the advantage with the away goal tiebreaker, “This is the Champions League, this is a Quarterfinal. You win 1-0 at home with a clean sheet going away, it’s a booster. You go away and you score a goal, they have to score three, so yes of course the guys are really confident. We’re getting back to winning ways. We’re getting sharp again and that’s good.” Man of the match Daniel Gazdag echoed those sentiments: “That was definitely a goal that can change our luck for the future. We needed that goal today, and it was pretty important for the team.” Gazdag was asked if he felt like he had a target on him with how rough the play was from Atlas and he answered, “Yeah I felt it a little bit after the first 20-25 minutes they were following me like 5-6 times already. I talked to the referee as well. These games are like that, so it’s ok we can deal with that.”
News and Notes:
- Kai Wagner missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury, his return date is unknown.
- CCL tiebreaker rules dictate that if both teams are tied in aggregate goals after two legs, the team which scored more goals as the away team wins. If the teams are still tied, the second leg match proceeds to a shootout to decide which team advances. This is why both Jim Curtin and Damion Lowe referenced how important a shutout was in this match.
- The Union’s next match is on the road for MLS on Saturday evening at FC Cincinnati at 7:30pm streaming on Apple TV+.
- These teams will resume play in Leg 2 of the CCL Quarterfinals in Guadalajara, Mexico Wednesday April 12 at 10pm on FS1.
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