Cavan Sullivan’s assists and Bruno Damiani’s goals lead the Union to a stunning 3-2 win in New York

NEW YORK -- The Union came from behind in stunning fashion to beat New York City FC, 3-2, at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night.

Cavan Sullivan and Bruno Damiani were the stars of the show, with Sullivan notching two assists and Damiani scoring the last two goals after Danley Jean Jacques struck the first.

Here are our takeaways on the wild game.

It’s always been hard enough for the Union at Yankee Stadium: they had just two wins in nine all-time trips to the Bronx entering this game. But they put themselves in a hole within three minutes, thanks to Neil Pierre’s takedown in the box of New York (and former Union) midfielder Andrés Perea.

Bénie Traoré, an Ivorian winger whom City signed for a club record $10.1 million this summer, duly stepped up and converted from the spot.

Money isn’t everything in MLS, but it’s a lot. That fee is more than twice what the Union have ever paid for a player, and it’s just $1.5 million than the club’s entire roster payroll – salaries, though not including transfer fees – this season.

It’s worth knowing that for as well as Traoré and fellow newcomer Luighi (on loan from Brazil’s Palmeiras with a $6 million purchase option) played, New York entered this game with nine players absent due to injury or suspension. They included key attackers Nicolás Fernández Mercau, Alonso Martínez, and Thiago Martins.

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The Union, meanwhile, had their first-choice starting squad available after interim manager Ryan Richter’s lineup rotation in the Leagues Cup group finale. They were still overrun far too often, and referee Sergii Demianchuk had a quick whistle for their fouls.

In the 44th minute, that led to a yellow card for Jovan Lukić which earned a suspension from Wednesday’s home game vs. Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) for card accumulation. And just seconds later, Indiana Vassilev was whistled for a handball in the box, with Demianchuk not interested in claims it hit his shoulder.

Luighi converted this one, with Andre Blake barely moving on his line for the second straight time.

Though the Union played well at times in between New York’s goals, the hole felt awfully big at halftime. Yet they dug out of it, with Cavan Sullivan leading the way.

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan and the Union won’t win the Leagues Cup this year, but they’ll still gain something big

The first goal of the comeback came just three minutes into the frame. Kai Wagner served a free kick from the left wing, Sullivan flicked the ball on in the box, and Danley Jean Jacques controlled an awkward bounce before slotting past Matt Freese from close range.

Sullivan did even more on the equalizer. Milan Iloski set him free on the right wing after a drive up the middle, and Damiani was wide open to receive Sullivan’s pass.

No doubt some Union fans held their breath when Damiami got the ball, for how many easy chances he has missed this year. But he calmly stuck this one home.

The third goal was Quinn Sullivan’s creation. Five minutes after entering as a substitute, he dashed down the left wing, doing well to evade James Sands’ tackle along the way. Sullivan had a decent look to shoot, but he squared for Damiani instead and the striker struck a nice first-time hit.

This can’t fully excuse how badly the Union (5-10-4, 19 points) played in the first half, but it bears saying anyway. The grass covering the infield dirt was in poor shape, clearly worse than it has traditionally been for soccer games here.

There was also a big diagonal seam through the six-yard box along the first base line, and a shorter seam by the sideline nearer to home plate at that end.

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Is it a coincidence that the first five goals of the night were all scored at the other end, left and center field in baseball games, where the grass was cleaner?

Fortunately, this won’t matter for too much longer. NYCFC (7-7-5, 26 points) will open its own soccer stadium next summer in Queens, across the street from the Mets’ Citi Field.

Etihad Park will have a capacity of 25,000 seats, and its construction cost is expected to total $780 million – all privately financed, though with a 49-year lease on the land instead of it being bought. That means the team won’t pay property taxes, which New York’s municipal budget office said is worth $516 million over the lease term.

With the new venue coming, Sunday’s game might have been the Union’s last at Yankee Stadium. Next year will start with a “sprint season,” in which each team in the Eastern Conference will play each other just once.

As the schedule isn’t out yet, we don’t know if the Union’s matchup with NYCFC will be at home or away; and if it’s away, whether it will be in the Bronx or at Citi Field, where the Pigeons have also played home games in recent years.