Union rout Chicago, 4-0, and get help to retake first place in the Eastern Conference

The Union got the win they badly needed on Saturday, routing the Chicago Fire, 4-0, at Subaru Park.

Tai Baribo opened the scoring for the Union in the 34th minute, then the floodgates opened in the second half. Kai Wagner scored in the 64th off a free kick, Danley Jean Jacques added to the tally in the 73rd, and Milan Iloski capped things off in the 80th.

Along with snapping the team’s two-game winless rut in league play, the win helped the Union (16-6-6, 54 points) retake first place in the Eastern Conference amid a trio of upsets elsewhere.

Inter Miami was held to a 1-1 tie at lowly D.C. United (with Lionel Messi out injured). The Columbus Crew lost 2-1 at home to the New England Revolution, not quite as lowly but not great either. And most significantly, first-place FC Cincinnati was shocked at home by New York City FC, 1-0, ahead of hosting the Union next Saturday.

The evening started on an unusual and unfortunate note. Pierce Holbrook, a Union reserve team goalkeeper set to be Andrew Rick’s backup, suffered what looked like a knee injury during pregame warmups. That left the Union with no official backup goalkeeper for the game.

Their first step to do something about this was to pound Chicago’s net with four shots in the first six minutes. One of them came just 30 seconds after kickoff: Iloski pressed former Union centerback Jack Elliott into a turnover, and Baribo jumped on the loose ball but scuffed it wide.

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Half an hour in, it seemed like the Union were in for another night of wasting many chances. But Baribo finally put the ball in the net, flicking the ball between Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady’s legs after a nice cross from Wagner.

That was the only finish of a half where the Union outshot the Fire by 10-2 — though just 3-1 in shots on target — and held 57% of the possession.

Chicago (11-10-6, 39 points) should have scored in the 59th when the Union were too lax defending their 18-yard box, leading to Sergio Oregel slamming a second-chance shot from 24 yards off the left post.

Wagner delivered the punishment five minutes later, after Iloski drew a foul just outside the 18-yard box. Those two and Quinn Sullivan pulled a little trickery on the ensuing free kick: all three stood over it, Iloski tapped it and got out of the way, and Wagner slammed it low to the right.

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Chicago’s six-man wall had splintered by then, leaving the last of them — Philip Zinckernagel — lying prone on the ground. He was there on purpose, in an attempt to block a low shot. (This is one of soccer’s newer innovations, after free kick-takers started shooting under player walls that jumped on the assumption a shot would go high. But the task usually falls to someone low-ranking, not a highly-paid winger.)

Wagner did in fact shoot low, but swung the ball behind Zinckernagel’s head and to the corner of the net.

Jean Jacques put the game out of reach in the 73rd, getting the decisive touch after Frankie Westfield swung a cross into traffic.

The Union and their fans in attendance could fully breathe. Bradley Carnell promptly made his first substitutions of the night, sending on Cavan Sullivan for Quinn Sullivan in midfield and Mikael Uhre for Bruno Damiani up top. Chris Donovan then joined the fray in the 79th, replacing Baribo.

Iloski made it an even longer night for Brady, a U.S. national team prospect who was one of the Olympic team’s starters last year. Cavan Sullivan orchestrated the play, dribbling forward and sending a pass on that was blocked into Iloski’s path. He quickly trapped and shot the ball from 24 yards, and Brady was caught frozen in his 6-yard box.

Jeremy Rafanello and Alejandro Bedoya were the Union’s last subs, replacing Iloski and Jovan Lukić in the 84th to see the game out.

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