Bruno Damiani’s goal gives the Union a much-needed win over New England

The fans at Subaru Park were grumbling, and rightly so. For as much as they enjoyed sitting in the sunshine in Chester, they’d watched 70 minutes of scoreless soccer in a game the Union had to win.

Nor had the Union’s attack looked especially good. The team had no shots in the first 30 minutes, put just one of six attempts vaguely on target before halftime, and centerback Jakob Glesnes took the first two shots of the second half.

At some point, either the difference in talent between a team with MLS’s best record and a team 10 places lower in the East had to tell. If not, the Union’s hopes of winning the Supporters’ Shield would take another big blow.

Right at that 70-minute mark, the difference showed up. Indiana Vassilev broke New England’s defense apart with a beautiful pass that sparked an attacking thrust, and a few passes later, Milan Iloski set up Bruno Damiani for a goal.

It was enough to give the Union a 1-0 win over a reeling New England Revolution collective. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Union and kept them atop the Supporters’ Shield race.

“Maybe it was not the best game performance, but we won after a very tough week, and we are very happy for that,” said Damiani, who received that pass from Vassilev and smartly turned it to Frankie Westfield in the play’s buildup. Westfield then fed Iloski, who played a cutback pass for Damiani to finish.

“I think these kinds of games are dangerous. When you are at 0-0, you’re making counter-pressing [runs] and going high and leaving some space behind. So it was kind of an urgency to score, and we get a very late goal … it’s a win.”

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The lack of attacking thrust from the Union seemed to have two roots: their own lack of intensity, and a perennial struggle against opponents with three-back defenses. That problem existed long before manager Bradley Carnell got here, but it has not been solved, even with the changes he has made.

“When we have the ball, we need to do some runs in behind the centerbacks,” Damiani said. “I think we tried, but we tried too much, maybe, in the first half. We couldn’t be brave with the ball, just tried to play with the [No.] 6s, and I think that was our mistake.”

Then again, as Carnell noted, the previous week’s 10 goals conceded gave this game some specific circumstances.

“I don’t want to put this into any context with any other games,” he said. “I think psychologically, this was a week that not many of our young players have had experienced. And guys just coming back from national teams, so a distortion of routines and rhythms — and then without even a training session, getting on the road and flying and staying on the road for five days.”

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A look toward the potential substitutes showed a few who could help. It seemed like a potential moment for Cavan Sullivan, since this wasn’t as physical of a contest as other opponents provide. But he once again did not play.

Iloski was the first substitute, entering at the hour mark. Danley Jean Jacques exited, Vassilev shifted back from an attacking midfield role to Jean Jacques’ defensive one, and Iloski took the attacking spot.

Four minutes after the goal, New England’s Peyton Miller was ejected for a shocking play. He put a shoulder into Quinn Sullivan, then after referee Lorenzo Hernandez’s whistle threw the ball into Tai Baribo’s back.

Hernandez was looking right at all of it and didn’t hesitate to show a red card.

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A Revolution team that needed to win to avoid being eliminated from playoff contention couldn’t have asked for a more emphatic way to end things. And it won’t help Miller’s reputation heading to the U.S. under-20 World Cup team this week, with Westfield as one of his teammates.

Baribo was booked in the ensuing fracas, earning him a suspension from next Saturday’s game at D.C. United (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). Fortunately, D.C. also currently is in free fall in MLS’s Eastern Conference.

Donovan could have truly put the game away in stoppage time, but botched a breakaway so badly that even if his misplay was meant to be a pass, it looked ugly.

New England had one last chance to score, but Andre Blake snuffed it out in his first game back since a hamstring injury almost a month ago.

The final whistle came a few moments later. Now, instead of grumbling, there was relief and happiness. The Union (18-7-6) became the first team to 60 points in the standings this year, and could spend Saturday night watching the rest of the league.

“Football’s about emotions and passions, and you deal with human beings, and we’re not robots,” Carnell said. “You’re just seeing us struggle through a phase now, and even in the second half against Nashville starting to come out of it. Today, it was a bit of a grind, and good teams learn how to grind and get the result.”