Quinn and Cavan Sullivan were great, but Bruno Damiani’s hat trick mattered most in the Union’s latest win
Nothing has held this team back more this year than a lack of goals from its top strikers. Did Damiani's big game against Cincinnati unlock him, or will it end up as another mirage?
The spotlight coming into Wednesday’s Union game was on Cavan Sullivan, as the 16-year-old continues to seize headlines across American soccer.
At kickoff, Cavan shared it with Quinn Sullivan, since the brothers were starting a regular-season game together for the first time. It was a big game, too, the Union’s first in a while against a big-time Eastern Conference opponent.
The stakes rose a little more when interim Union manager Ryan Richter chose to start Ezekiel Alladoh at striker with Bruno Damiani. It was a gamble to rest Milan Iloski, even if it was helpful in a three-game week.
That setup meant the Sullivans had to be the Union’s playmaking engine, and then they’d hope that the duo in front of them could finish the chances they created.
They delivered with style in a 5-0 rout of FC Cincinnati. Cavan had team highs of five chances created and 15 touches in the opponent’s 18-yard box, and his 73 touches were the most of any player in the front six. He completed 42 of 55 passes, sent six passes into the attacking third, and took two shots.
Quinn had 54 touches, including eight in the 18-yard box. He created two chances, took two shots, and had six defensive recoveries and one tackle.
You may have noticed that none of those stat lines included their assists. That’s because they wouldn’t have been recorded if someone else hadn’t scored the chances.
» READ MORE: Bruno Damiani and the Sullivan brothers fuel a statement win by the Union against FC Cincinnati
This time, Bruno Damiani did.
His hat trick, scored with his mother and brother in the stands at Subaru Park, was what mattered most — not just for this game, but for the rest of the season.
They were all different goals, too: a sliding charge at the goal line in first-half stoppage time, a first-touch hit from the middle of the 18-yard box in the 49th minute, and a cut and smash from the top of the box in the 61st.
It could even have been four had Kai Wagner not trapped a pass with an arm before crossing for Damiani’s finish in the 73rd. A video review took that off the board.
» READ MORE: As the Union push for the playoffs, Ryan Richter is 'never going to be excited about being in ninth place'
‘Hopefully it’s a snowball’
“I’m sure he feels a weight off his shoulders in some ways, but also he should be proud of the work that he put in, and he deserves the goals he scored tonight,” Richter said. “And for the team, when your striker leads the line like this, then he’s doing his job in the best way possible.”
Nothing has held this team back more this year than a lack of goals from Damiani and Alladoh. Coming into Saturday, the two most expensive signings in team history had combined for just eight goals in all competitions across 3,028 minutes in 30 games.
Even worse, Damiani’s six goals in all competitions came from 52 shots, many of which resulted in awful misses. Union fans need no reminding of the wide-open chances he fluffed in last Saturday’s 2-0 win over CF Montréal.
Alladoh, meanwhile, had just two goals from 19 shots. That’s a reflection of his having under-delivered so badly that he spends most of his time on the bench. Wednesday’s game was his first regular-season start since May 9, a span of 13 contests.
Consider this, too: Before Wednesday, Damiani ranked fifth on the Union’s season scoring chart. Iloski was at the top with 12 (now 13) in all competitions, Cavan Sullivan has seven, then Danley Jean Jacques and Neil Pierre have four each.
That’s an attacking midfielder (a very good one, for sure), a defensive midfielder, and a centerback, all with more goals than a striker.
“A game like tonight, scoring that hat trick is big for him, and hopefully it’s a snowball,” Iloski said. “If me and him are both firing, that’s so big for the team going down the stretch.”
Iloski also praised his frontline partner’s other contributions, as Richter has also done repeatedly.
» READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino praises the Union’s young stars, and opens the door to USMNT call-ups
“Bruno does a lot for us, and he does a lot for me,” he said. “He battles with guys constantly, and lets me kind of run a bit more free. And he does so much work defensively.”
But Iloski knows what matters most, because it’s what he’s also paid to do.
‘Things are working’
When Damiani scored twice at New York City FC just under a month ago, there was hope he was finally unlocked, having also tallied in a Leagues Cup game a week earlier. At that point, he had just one goal in 19 regular-season outings.
Then he went scoreless in the next four, with especially ugly misses against Inter Miami and Montréal.
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Everyone saw Damiani’s frustrated reactions. It was clear that the burden weighed on his shoulders, as it did earlier in the year and in prior droughts.
“I’m an emotional person, an emotional player — and yeah, of course when things don’t go my way, like the team didn’t perform really well in the first half of the season, I wasn’t happy,” he said. “I’m happy now that things are working, game-to-game we’re improving, keeping the clean sheet and winning the games. I’m also happy for my personal moment, too, that I scored a hat trick this time.”
Richter has backed Damiani all along, and did so again Wednesday.
“Of course, the goal didn’t come [until now], but assists, affecting plays that lead to goals, his hold-up play [has been] outstanding, his work against the ball top,” he said. “What he can control is, he’ll do all these things every game, and we know that, and we know that it makes the team better. And then, yeah, his main job is to score goals, and when he starts chipping in and doing the job that he did tonight, then it’s a complete striker.”
» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan did a LeBron James tribute with his latest goal, and hopes he’ll come to a Union game
Wednesday’s win nudged the Union up to eighth place (8-10-6, 30 points) heading into Sunday’s game at San Diego FC (9 p.m., Apple TV), their longest road trip of the season. The standings remain a logjam, with four points separating sixth-place Orlando City from 12th-place Red Bull New York.
“Yeah, we are in the playoff [places]. It feels good,” Damiani said. “We have the [standings] table in the gym, and we can see our club in the playoff spots. We should be there all the time. So, it’s good, but let’s stay game-after-game.”
He channeled his manager in saying that, and when he called it “the hard thing to do now, and the best thing to do. … That mentality is what brings us here.”
And will that mentality now deliver more goals? Or will this game become another mirage, rooted in the Union’s man advantage from the 16th minute on thanks to Obinna Nwobodo’s red card?
The answer will be one of the biggest factors in how this season ends up.
