Union do just enough to earn scoreless tie at Columbus Crew

The Union escaped the Columbus Crew with an ugly but ultimately effective scoreless tie on Sunday night at Lower.com Field.

Here are some observations on the Union’s first game of the second half of the season.

Union manager Jim Curtin has long been a Rasheed Wallace fan, especially of Wallace’s famous phrase, “Ball don’t lie.” Curtin might still be, even with Wallace’s move to the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching staff. So let’s start with Andre Blake’s penalty kick save in the 19th minute. Dániel Gazdag’s foul on Sean Zawadski was very slight contact. Perhaps there was a little karma in Blake stuffing Pedro Santos from the spot.

Blake also made two big saves in the run of play during the game, one in each half.

» READ MORE: Rasheed Wallace: Man, myth, and now a road in front of Simon Gratz High School

Curtin accounted for José Andrés Martínez’s red card suspension by getting inventive.

Instead of sticking with a 4-4-2 formation or going to his first-alternative 4-3-2-1, Curtin rolled out a 5-3-2, which we’ve rarely ever seen from the Union (7-2-9, 30 points).

This was a gamble, but it brought a lot of benefits. Chief among them was its defensive solidity: midfielders Leon Flach, Gazdag and Alejandro Bedoya in front of centerbacks Stuart Findlay, Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes.

Lining up Glesnes at right centerback gave defensive cover for right back Olivier Mbaizo, who made his first start since May 19 and his third overall this year. That mattered not just in general, but because veteran Columbus wing playmaker Santos was on Mbaizo’s side of the field in the Crew’s 3-5-2 setup.

If the Crew (5-5-7, 22 points) playing a 3-5-2 was a bit of a surprise, the Union playing a 5-3-2 was even more of one. But that was part of the point, as Curtin has long relished matching wits with Columbus manager Caleb Porter.

Curtin’s lineup was likely designed to stifle the Crew long enough for them to tire, then have Mikael Uhre and Julián Carranza come off the bench. The strategy worked through halftime, though it was unsightly: The expected-goals totals at halftime were 1.15 for Columbus and 0.02 for the Union.

» READ MORE: USMNT goalkeeper Zack Steffen has a goal beyond 2022 World Cup success: To give back

Zelarayan appeared to break the deadlock in the 66th minute with a shot past Blake after a trailing run into the kind of space that a three-player midfield can leave open near the top of the 18-yard box. But Columbus’ Erik Hurtado was standing right in front of Blake in an offside position, which led MLS’s video replay center to take off the goal for interference.

That was the correct call, but the Union were lucky. It was still a bad defensive breakdown.

During the stoppage, Uhre and Carranza went in for Burke and Donovan.

The real benefit of the 5-3-2 could come in the long term. It was shown by Mbaizo getting forward twice in the first five minutes for good crosses, establishing an attacking threat that the Crew had to keep in mind all night.

While Nathan Harriel is clearly the long-term starting right back, what Mbaizo can do as an attacking threat matters.

Perhaps that could be in a 5-3-2 again some day. But the more significant revelation could come when Quinn Sullivan gets back from the U.S. under-20 team. Sullivan’s play as a left winger for the national squad gives Curtin an opening to bring back the 4-3-3 setup that worked well in the past with Ilsinho, Brenden Aaronson and Sergio Santos as wingers.

It’s easy to imagine a late-game front three of Sullivan, Uhre or Carranza, and Mbaizo causing problems for opponents.

Of course, that would require Curtin to play Sullivan and Mbaizo more than he has. But at least it’s possible.

Five of the teams’ 16 combined fouls in the first half drew yellow cards, including all four Columbus infractions. Alejandro Bedoya also went in referee Nima Saghafi’s book in the second half. Saghafi was in no mood to leave all the roughhousing uncalled, which was a welcome sight in an era where officials often let a lot go.

The final fouls called total was 23 against the Union and 8 against the Crew.

The U.S. under-20 team’s Concacaf tournament final kicked off half an hour after the Union game did, so a lot of Union fans were watching two screens at once. The Americans prevailed, 6-0, with Paxten Aaronson scoring the second and fifth goals. Aaronson and Brandan Craig started, Jack McGlynn came in at halftime and scored the fourth, and Sullivan entered in the 57th minute.

Aaronson’s goal gave him seven in the tournament, and the Golden Boot award for the competition’s top scorer. He also won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award.

Sullivan and Honduras’ Marco Aceituno were second on the scoring chart with six goals each.

Union players accounted for 15 of the United States’ 31 goals in the tournament, and six assists: three by Sullivan, two by Craig, and one by Aaronson.

» READ MORE: Four Union players led the U.S. men’s soccer team to end its 16-year Olympics drought