Photo: Ron Soliman

The Union returned home from a disappointing semifinal loss to the Columbus Crew to face the Colorado Rapids in a consolation match for third place in the Leagues Cup. A sparse crowd packed the west bank of the Delaware River at Subaru Park as a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup was at stake. Both teams were playing their seventh game in the Leagues Cup.

Colorado scored the only goal of the second half to tie the game at 2-2. Regular time ended 2-2 and the game went to penalties, where Colorado secured 3rd place in the cup and a secure spot in the Champions Cup.

Andre Blake started in goal again, but it was the first Leagues Cup game in two years without Damion Lowe and José Martínez in Union’s blue shirts, as both have left Union for other teams. Centre-backs Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes formed the defence in front of Blake, flanked by Kai Wagner on the left and Oliver Mbaizo on the right. Jesus Bueno started at the base of the 4-4-2 diamond, replacing Martínez as a 6, while Leon Flach returned to his usual 8 position on the left. Quinn Sullivan started on the right of the diamond and Daniel Gazdag played in his usual attacking midfield role as a 10. Tai Baribo returned from his red card suspension to start with Mikael Uhre up front.

First half

Union dominated possession in the first thirty minutes and forced Union Academy and Manchester Citizen product Zach Steffen to make three saves. Andre Blake also had to make a brilliant save in the 29th minute.

Colorado scored first on a counterattack, albeit against the run of play, when Glesnes was caught off guard and allowed a pass behind him that created a two-on-one. Rafael Navarro received the pass on the left, ran toward goal and found the attacking Calvin Harris on his right, who beat the unprotected Blake in the 38th minute.

It didn’t take long for Union to level the game, however, when a cross from Uhre on the left was headed back across goal by Wagner to Baribo, who headed past a diving Steffen in the 41st minute. It was Baribo’s sixth goal in the Leagues Cup, drawing level with the Cup Golden Shoe leaders. Minutes later, Baribo took the Golden Shoe lead in the 44th minute when a Sullivan shot was fired off the left post to Wagner, whose shot was stopped but rebounded to an onrushing Baribo, who again made no mistake with his shot. Union went into halftime with a deserved 2-1 lead, having come from behind.

Second half

The second half began with the same eleven for both teams. Colorado didn’t take long to equalize in the 49th minute when a corner from Djordje Mihailovic was partially cleared by an Elliott header, but only to the foot of an onrushing Oliver Larraz, who fired the ball past a diving Blake. An offside from Lalas Abubakar may have hampered Blake, who saw the shot too late and was beaten at the near post. VAR quickly checked the ball, but the goal counted.

For a while, Union was content to play long balls to Uhre and Sullivan, while Colorado continued to have the better chances. Union coach Jim Curtain made three substitutions in the 62nd minute to breathe some life into the underdog Union team: Jack McGlynn for Uhre, Alejandro Bedoya for Flach and Danley Jean Jaques for Bueno. Meanwhile, the Rapids brought on Jackson Travis for the injured Samuel Vines in the 64th minute.

The Union were saved by the post in the 78th minute when an Abubakar shot went just wide. The Union recovered and began to put Colorado under pressure. Meanwhile, Sullivan was replaced by Samuel Adeniran in the 80th minute and Jonathan Lewis in the 84th minute. Colorado made another substitution in the 89th minute with a penalty shootout looming, bringing on Darren Yapi for Navarro. Neither team scored in the five minutes of added time and the match was decided on penalties.

Penalty

Play shifted to the River End where Colorado shot first. Mihailovic went first, sent Blake the wrong way and converted his attempt. Gazdag went first for the Union but his attempt was saved by Steffen. Cole Bassett was next, going high and scoring over Blake. Baribo was next but Steffen once again guessed the right direction and saved Baribo’s attempt. The Union trailed 2-0 heading into the shootout. Andreas Maxso converted his penalty to give Colorado a commanding 3-0 lead in the shootout. Elliott fired one past Steffen to keep the Union in the game and Connor Ronan sunk his attempt to give the Union another chance. Mbaizo shot from the penalty spot, bounced off the crossbar and Colorado moved on to the Concacaf Champions Cup.

Three points

Tai Baribo: 7 goals in 6 League Cup games. Leading player in the Golden Boot (current).

Problems with Gazdag PK: Gazdag, normally a sure-fire penalty taker, missed his penalty attempt again, his second in this Leagues Cup. (Let’s not forget the miss in the 2022 MLS Cup either.) This has to get better.

Zach Steffen: Two saves in the penalty shootout gave Colorado the win. He put in a lot of effort.

Lineups

Philadelphia Union (4-4-2)
Andre Blake, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner, Olivier Mbaizo, Jesus Bueno (Danley Jean Jaques 62′), Leon Flach (Alejandro Bedoya 62′), Quinn Sullivan (Samuel Adeniran 80′), Daniel Gazdag, Tai Baribo, Mikael Clock (Jack McGlynn 62′)

Unused substitutes: Holden Trent, Oliver Semmle, Nathan Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, CJ Olney, Jr., Jeremy Rafanello, Chris Donovan

Colorado Rapids (4-2-3-1) Zach Steffen, Samuel Vines (Jackson Travis 64′), Andreas Maxso, Lalas Abubakar, Keegan Rosenberry, Oliver Larraz, Connor Ronan, Cole Bassett, Djordje Mihailovic, Calvin Harris (Jonathan Lewis 84′), Rafael Navarro (Darren Yapi 89′)

Unused substitutes: Adam Beaudry, Ethan Bandre, Michael Edwards, Sebastian Anderson, Jasper Loffelsend, Wayne Frederick, Kimani Stewart, Omir Fernandez

Referee –

Rating Summary

COL – Calvin Harris – 39′

PHI – Tai Baribo – 41′

PHI – Tai Baribo – 44′

COL – Oliver Larraz – 49′

Discipline overview

COL – Andreas Maxso – yellow card (foul) – 25′

PHI – Kai Wagner – yellow card (foul) – 26′