Union Fall 1-0 to Columbus Crew, Lose Nathan Harriel to Injury
Philadelphia stumbles at Subaru Park as Harriel’s injury adds to the Union’s woes.
Chester, Pa.— The Philadelphia Union fell to the Columbus Crew by a score of 1-0 on Wednesday night at Subaru Park, as second-half substitute Yaw Yeboah headed home the winner in the 75th minute. With that loss, it ended the Union’s two-game winning streak in MLS and marked the first time they’ve lost to the Columbus Crew at home since September 12, 2015. This also marks the second time the Crew have beaten the Union in seven days.
Jim Curtin made three changes to his lineup from the team that faced the Colorado Rapids in their third-place game in the Leagues Cup on Sunday, with Nathan Harriel replacing Olivier Mbaizo at right back, Danley Jean Jacques replacing Jesús Bueno in the midfield (marking the first start for Jean Jacques as a Union player), and Alejandro Bedoya starting for Mikael Uhre. The Union opted for a flat 4-4-2 instead of their typical 4-4-2 diamond formation, with Andre Blake in goal, Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes as the two center-backs, and Kai Wagner and Nathan Harriel as the two full-backs. In the midfield, from left to right, were Leon Flach, Danley Jean Jacques, Alejandro Bedoya, and Quinn Sullivan. Up top, the Union paired Dániel Gazdag with Tai Baribo.
Within the first six minutes of the match, the Union had won themselves six corners, with Danley Jean Jacques having the closest attempt in the 6th minute. As he beat two defenders to the ball, his header attempt went just over the crossbar.
The Union’s next real opportunity came in the 13th minute, with Tai Baribo hitting the post after Dániel Gazdag sprayed a pass out wide right to a streaking Quinn Sullivan, who did well to take a couple of touches past Columbus’ left wing-back DeJuan Jones and play a low-driven cross to Baribo at the near post. Baribo has been in hot form lately, scoring six goals in his last four appearances in all competitions.
Columbus had changed nine players out from their team that won the Leagues Cup Final on Sunday against LAFC by a score of 3-1, and Jim Curtin knew it would be important for his team to take advantage of all those changes, as Columbus would eventually bring their star players into the game later on.
"Our goal was to jump on them early. I thought we actually had a good first 15 minutes: hit the post, hit the bar, had five or six corner kicks consecutively. We didn't get a goal. And then we knew what they would bring into the game around the 60th, 70th minute. At that point when we didn’t have a lead, we knew it was going to be difficult,” said Jim Curtin after the match.
In the 22nd minute, Nathan Harriel had to exit the game due to back spasms, which saw Olivier Mbaizo replace the Homegrown. Losing Harriel is a huge blow for the club as he brings so much versatility to the team. As I said on the latest podcast, Harriel is the third most important player to this team because of his ability to play so many positions on the backline.
“That's one of the depth spots we had, and now it's gone. So I think he had back spasms and when a back locks up like that, there's no real timetable yet, but it's not good because that's something that can kind of happen again and again,” said Jim Curtin. “So we'll assess things, get some tests, and see where he's at. But, he's a tough kid, so for him to come out, it was pretty serious and pretty painful. So he said his back just locked up on him.”
The Union’s final real chance of the first half came in the 38th minute when Quinn Sullivan hit the crossbar with a rocket of a shot. Tai Baribo had collected a misplaced pass by Columbus in their own half, and with numbers forward by the Union, Baribo was able to find Dániel Gazdag with a pass, who found Olivier Mbaizo out wide right. Mbaizo sent a first-time low-driven cross towards Leon Flach, but Columbus defender Malte Amundsen was able to block the cross, and Quinn Sullivan was first to react to the loose ball inside Columbus’ 18-yard box.
Columbus Crew made a triple substitution in the 62nd minute, bringing on Yaw Yeboah, Diego Rossi, and Max Arfsten for Marcelo Herrera, Jacen Russell-Rowe, and DeJuan Jones. Three minutes after coming onto the field, Yeboah had his first opportunity of the night, sneaking in behind Olivier Mbaizo, who got caught ball-watching the Malte Amundsen pass. Andre Blake came up with his biggest save of the night to deny Yeboah from making it 1-0.
After a couple more chances for Columbus, with none of them really threatening Andre Blake, both the Union and Columbus made substitutions in the 72nd minute. The Union brought on Mikael Uhre and Jack McGlynn for Alejandro Bedoya and Danley Jean Jacques, while Columbus brought on Cucho Hernández and Darlington Nagbe.
Columbus finally struck in the 75th minute with another chance from Yaw Yeboah, who once again snuck in behind Olivier Mbaizo, who was caught ball-watching once more. It was Malte Amundsen at the center of things for Columbus again, with a great pass out wide left to Yeboah, who took a fantastic touch to bring the pass down. Yeboah found a wide-open Cucho Hernández, who took the space the Union gave him and switched the play to the right side of the field to an unmarked Max Arfsten, who sent in the cross to an unmarked Yeboah.
The Union’s last real chance of the night came three minutes after Columbus’ goal, as the Union had a set-piece opportunity with Kai Wagner playing short to Jack McGlynn, whose shot from distance bounced on the ground, forcing a difficult save by Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.
Why Nathan Harriel’s Injury Is a Major Concern
With no timetable on how long Nathan Harriel could potentially be out, it’s really concerning for the Union. Not only do they lose their starting right back, but they also lose their third-choice center-back and their backup left-back. Jim Curtin confirmed during his midweek press conference that Harriel was indeed the third-choice center-back, saying, “You are correct right now if we get in a pinch Nathan would be the third center-back.” Harriel has played 55 games for the Union at right back, eight as a left-back, and five as a center-back. Olwethu Makhanya is a natural center-back but has never featured for the first team since making the move over from South Africa last summer. Makhanya does have 21 appearances with Union II down in MLS Next Pro and has played a total of 1,935 minutes, but the jump up from Next Pro to MLS is massive, something that Curtin acknowledged after the game Wednesday night.
“It's still a big jump when he trains with the first team. I think he has some good days and has some days where he learns. But he's a talented young player that we believe in. And with some of the absences now and injuries, he's going to get an opportunity, I'm sure, at some point this year. And like all good players, hopefully he steps up and takes his chance,” said Jim Curtin.
Not only do you lose defensive cover, but you also lose a big threat on set pieces, something that has been key for the Union this season as they lead the league with 15 set-piece goals. Although Harriel hasn’t scored from a restart this season, we’ve seen him score off set pieces in the past, and he currently leads the team with headers won on set pieces this year with 14. The amount of attention Harriel brings on corner kicks and other set-piece opportunities opens up space for teammates to get in better scoring chances, and now with Harriel out, scoring set pieces may become a bit more difficult for the Union.
MLS Roster Freeze Isn’t Until September 13, Meaning the Union Can Still Sign Free Agents
We saw FC Cincinnati recently sign former Houston Dynamo center-back Teenage Hadebe as a free agent after his contract with Turkish Süper Lig side Konyaspor expired this summer. MLS teams can still sign free agents, as the MLS Roster Freeze isn’t until September 13, and once that freeze happens, teams can no longer register players for the remainder of the season. Jim Curtin shared his thoughts after the game on whether he expects the Union to be active in pursuing free agents to help bolster his team with recent departures and now an injury to Nathan Harriel.
“Yeah, of course, we'll always look to add pieces now. There's still good players that are without teams right now. So we'll have to see first how serious Nathan's injury is,” said Jim Curtin. “Hopefully, it's not serious and he can be part of the team. But any time a guy goes out in the 20th minute or so, it's going to be something pretty serious. So we'll see what happens. But yeah, certainly we'll always look to explore to add pieces to the team as we go into the final eight games now.”
What’s Next
With eight games remaining in MLS, the Union head to Harrison, New Jersey, this Saturday to take on New York Red Bulls, who sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 10-4-12, 42 points.