Jakob Glesnes, Philadelphia Union Bounce Back to Beat Red Bulls

The Union rebounded from their midweek loss to go into the international break with three points.

CHESTER — Philadelphia Union manager Jim Curtin did not need to sit down with center back Jakob Glesnes after Wednesday’s loss to Toronto FC.

Curtin knew Glesnes would respond to the awful performance with a strong showing against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday.

“Jakob’s become a real leader of our group,” Curtin said. “It’s a situation where he knows he didn’t have his best game in Toronto, but if you rewind literally one game before, he was the best player on the field for both teams.”

“I don’t have to say anything or sit with him. He just knows how to respond. I respect him so much as a person and as a player. It was a great performance from him,” Curtin said.

Glesnes’ second goal of the season kickstarted the Union after falling one goal behind the Red Bulls.

The Union went on to score three more goals to go into the September international break with three points.

Set Pieces!

The Union had a clear objective in their preparation for Sunday’s game.

Earn set pieces and score on them.

Well, they did exactly that.

Glesnes’ goal came off a Kai Wagner corner that was initially pushed away from the goal by Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.

Glesnes affected Coronel’s punch by aligning himself tight against the goalkeeper before Wagner took the corner.

The most notable part of that sequence was Glesnes ditched Omir Fernandez. The Red Bulls midfielder was stuck to the Norwegian center back on the opening few set pieces of the game.

Fernandez was a pest to Glesnes, but in the buildup to this corner, the center back shook him off and went straight to the goal line, where only Coronel was behind him.

Glesnes’ celebration carried a little extra oomph and for good reason. It was a combination of rivalry game and the letting out of frustration from Wednesday.

“It’s no secret I had a tough game on Wednesday,” Glesnes said. “I had it in my mind before I was coming in today that I was going to score a goal.”

“We know when we play against the Red Bulls it’s always tough,” Glesnes said. “Restarts are somewhere we can score goals and we saw that last time as well. We had it in our minds already that we could get goals on set pieces.”

The Union’s second goal, scored by Damion Lowe, was a product of just being taller and more physical than the opponent.

The Jamaican powered his way through two defenders and nodded home Wagner’s free kick from the left wing.

“We trained so much on set pieces, sometimes too much. It’s paying off though. Practice becomes perfect,” Lowe said.

Carranza, Gazdag Finish Game Off

The Union’s regular goal scorers got in on the fun to close out the contest.

Julian Carranza netted his 26th Union regular-season goal in the 58th minute and Daniel Gazdag added a fourth in the 76th minute.

The buildup to Carranza’s goal was all about doing the simple things to perfection.

Jack McGlynn switched the field with a ball from the left, Nathan Harriel won an aerial duel on the right, Alejandro Bedoya dumped a ball from right to left for Wagner, who then found a wide-open Carranza.

The Red Bulls had five players in the box when Wagner’s cross was sent in. None of them were close to Carranza.

The fourth goal again featured some simple things being done right. Wagner intercepted a ball 10 yards beyond the center circle and played an exquisite ball to Gazdag.

Jack McGlynn Masterclass

Jack McGlynn was arguably the best player on the field for the Union on Sunday.

He didn’t record a goal or assist, but he did turn in a phenomenal performance in a deeper-lying role.

“Jack McGlynn is always great,” Glesnes said. “I didn’t think about if he was a little bit deeper today. He’s a great player. He can handle all types of the games. He’s been taking a lot of steps in the last year. I didn’t think much about that. He always performs very well.”

McGlynn and Bedoya were forced to be the central midfielders in the 3-5-2 setup with Leon Flach out injured and Jose Martinez and Jesus Bueno suspended for the match.

McGlynn completed 87.7 percent of his passes, per FBRef. He was 31-for-33 on short-range passes, 22-for-23 on medium-range passes and 9-for-13 on long-range balls. He completed 21 more passes than any other Union player.

The Homegrown midfielder led the team with 78 touches and three tackles won.

“You have a young guy in Jack McGlynn and an experienced veteran in Bedoya. They have soccer,” Curtin said.

“When I say that, that means they can pass out of pressure, they know how to shift their bodies a little bit and stay calm when a Red Bull guy is running at you at 100 miles per hour. (Jack) was really composed. I think the only ball he lost was in the 93rd minute. Other than that, he was clean, flawless and it always looks cooler when you’re left footed too. It looks nicer and more composed.”

“(McGlynn) ran the game. He ran the tempo of the game. It’s not easy for a kid to do that,” Curtin continued. “It does help to have Ale’s experience next to him. When Jack was creeping up on the left, Ale is there as a 6. The best part was when Ale went forward on the right, and Ale got high tonight a lot of times, Jack was alone on an island in the middle and he put out a lot of fires defensively too.”

“He’s getting better and better. I know a lot of names get thrown out there, who’s this and who’s that, but he does it pretty consistently and he’s in that same group of great young players in this league.”

Stat Time

Wagner became the seventh player in Union history to record 40 combined goals and assists in regular-season play.

Carranza is one goal or assist away from joining the group that also includes Sebastien Le Toux, CJ Sapong, Kacper Przybylko, Gazdag, Bedoya and Ilsinho.

Carranza moved into sole possession of fifth place on the regular-season scoring chart with his goal.

Glesnes is officially the second-highest scoring center back in regular-season play behind Jack Elliott.

The Norwegian was tied on five goals with Amobi Okugo. At least one of Okugo’s goals came while as a midfielder, but now there are no technicalities to get into because Glesnes has more than Okugo.

I’m only adding this last stat because it’s so obscure. Damion Lowe is now tied with Brian Brown for second on the list of goals scored by Jamaican players for the Union.

THE MORE YOU KNOW!

Into the International Break

The Union enter the September break in fourth place with one point between them and New England in second place. Orlando City sits in third.

The Union hold a game in hand over Orlando and have one more victory than New England, which is the first tiebreaker.

LAFC’s loss to Inter Miami on Sunday night was meaningful as well. The Union hold are six points in front of LAFC and five points in front of Seattle. St. Louis City is the only Western Conference team with more points, and the difference to the Union is one.

That is important to watch for potential MLS Cup hosting purposes. The No. 2 seed and having more points than anyone in the West are the two goals to reach for the rest of the regular season so that as many playoff games as possible go through Subaru Park.

Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union.