Chester — The Philadelphia Union erupted for four goals in their home season opener against FC Cincinnati, securing a 4-1 victory thanks to a hat trick by Tai Baribo and a debut goal from $3.4 million forward Bruno Damiani.
Before kickoff, the Union held a moment of silence for former goalkeeper Holden Trent, who tragically passed away last season at the age of 25. In his honor, the team painted the number 13 on the field and displayed a wreath of flowers along with his jersey. Trent’s mother and sister were joined on the field by Union defender Nathan Harriel and goalkeeping coach Phil Wheddon.
The Union’s starting XI remained unchanged from last week’s match against Orlando City. Andre Blake started in goal, with a backline of Frankie Westfield, Jakob Glesnes (making his 150th MLS start for the club), Olwethu Makhanya, and Kai Wagner (making his 170th MLS start). Jovan Lukić and Danley Jean Jacques played as the double pivots in midfield, with Dániel Gazdag and Quinn Sullivan positioned as attacking midfielders. Mikael Uhre and Tai Baribo led the attack.
The Union struck early, opening the scoring in the sixth minute through Baribo, who converted the team’s first shot of the match. Kai Wagner registered his second assist of the season on the goal. Quinn Sullivan nearly doubled the lead in the 29th minute, but his volley sailed over the crossbar. One minute later, Baribo secured his brace after a deflected clearance from Cincinnati’s Brian Anunga fell to Gazdag. In a two-on-one break, Gazdag squared the ball to Baribo, who slotted it home to make it 2-0. The Union entered halftime with a commanding lead, having limited Cincinnati to just one shot.
Baribo completed his hat trick in the 52nd minute, marking his second career Union hat trick (his first came on July 17, 2024, against New England). Cincinnati pulled one back in the 59th minute when Evander capitalized on poor clearance attempts from the Union, driving a left-footed strike past Blake to make it 3-1.
In the 69th minute, Bradley Carnell introduced Bruno Damiani for Mikael Uhre, handing the forward his Union debut. Cincinnati nearly made it 3-2 in the 78th minute when Alvas Powell dribbled through the entire Union defense and forced a save from Blake, who spilled the ball. Kevin Denkey pounced on the loose ball, but his shot struck the crossbar. Evander collected the rebound and fired another effort on goal, only for Glesnes to make an acrobatic block.
Cavan Sullivan made his first appearance of the season in the 82nd minute, replacing Baribo, while Indiana Vassilev debuted for the Union in place of Gazdag. Carnell made his final change by bringing on Jesús Bueno for Lukić, marking Bueno’s first appearance of the season.
Damiani sealed the victory in the 93rd minute, scoring his debut goal off a cross from Quinn Sullivan, who recorded his second assist of the season.
With two goals on Matchday 1 and a hat trick in the home opener, Baribo became just the fourth player in MLS history to score five goals in the first two games of a season, joining Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández (2021), Ayo Akinola (2020), and Brian Ching (2006).
Key Moments
The Philadelphia Union opened the scoring in the sixth minute thanks to the connection between Kai Wagner and Tai Baribo, as Baribo netted his third goal of the season. The play started with Olwethu Makhanya playing a long ball up to Mikael Uhre, who chested it down to Quinn Sullivan on the left side of the field. After some skillful dribbling from Sullivan, his pass was intercepted by Cincinnati but was poorly cleared. Wagner stepped in to make the interception, and after some crisp one-touch passing between Wagner, Uhre, and Sullivan, Wagner sent a cross toward the near post, where Baribo tucked it past Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano to give the Union a 1-0 lead.
The Union doubled their lead in the 30th minute, with Tai Baribo scoring his second goal of the match and fourth of the season. Bradley Carnell’s high-pressing system was on full display in the buildup to the goal, as Jovan Lukić and Kai Wagner pressed Cincinnati’s Yuya Kubo to win back possession. Wagner’s attempted pass to Tai Baribo was deflected by Brian Anunga and fell to the feet of Dániel Gazdag, who had snuck in behind Cincinnati’s backline. Gazdag then laid the ball off to Baribo, who converted to make it 2-0 for the Union. The play was initially ruled offside as the assistant referee flagged Baribo, but after a VAR check by head referee Allen Chapman, it was determined that Baribo was onside, and the goal stood.
The Union went into halftime leading 2-0, thanks to a brace from Tai Baribo. Danley Jean Jacques and Jovan Lukić were dominant in midfield, each winning back possession five times. The Union defense limited Cincinnati to just one shot in the entire half, which didn’t come until the fourth minute of stoppage time when Evander struck from the right side of the 18-yard box.
It took just six minutes and 12 seconds into the second half for the Union to find their third goal—and who else but Tai Baribo to complete the hat trick? Jakob Glesnes had a free kick for the Union inside the center circle, and all it took was six passes for the Union to wind inside Cincinnati’s 18-yard box. Tai Baribo tried to find Dániel Gazdag to his left, but DeAndre Yedlin intercepted the pass. The ball stayed in play, with Gazdag keeping it alive, playing the ball across the six-yard box to an unmarked Baribo at the left post, who had a tap-in.
Cincinnati pulled one back in the 59th minute through Evander after a poor pass from Danley Jean Jacques was intercepted. Evander attempted a first-time chip into Kevin Denkey, but Jakob Glesnes intercepted the pass. However, his clearance was poor, allowing Evander to pick up the ball, dribble past multiple defenders, and unleash a left-footed strike from the top of the 18-yard box past a diving Andre Blake to make it 3-1.
For the second consecutive week, the Union were saved by the woodwork. In the 78th minute, Kevin Denkey struck the post after a spilled save from Andre Blake. Cincinnati’s Alvas Powell started the play by collecting the ball in his own half and dribbling through the Union’s defense, reminiscent of prime Ilsinho. Powell’s shot forced a spill from Blake, and Denkey pounced on the loose ball, only to see his shot hit the post. The chaos didn’t end there—Evander latched onto the rebound, but Jakob Glesnes performed a scissor-kick clearance to block the shot, keeping the score at 3-1.
After coming on in the 69th minute for his Union debut, Bruno Damiani sealed the victory with a goal in the 93rd minute, making it 4-1. Danley Jean Jacques intercepted a pass from Obinna Nwobodo and found Quinn Sullivan unmarked on the right side. Three touches later, Sullivan sent a cross into Damiani, who finished with a sliding effort to put the ball past Roman Celentano.
What’s Next?
The Philadelphia Union will take on a new-look New England Revolution on Saturday, March 8 (7:30 PM kickoff) at Gillette Stadium. The Union will look to start the season 3-0 for the first time in club history.
What a game! The academy players are really stepping up. I didn’t see that happening. Lukic proved my skepticism wrong.
I know there are some downsides to Apple TV, but as someone who’s a big fan of Liga MX, it’s really nice to know where to find the games and to trust that the app will deliver high-quality content. I have to shuffle through 4-5 apps to find Chivas games.
Tai Baribo, on his way to another Golden Boot--this time in regular MLS season play!