Sergio Santos’ first Union goals lead 6-1 rout of New England Revolution

The first-place Union sealed a seven-point week with their most dominant performance of the three-game stretch, a 6-1 win over the New England Revolution that featured Sergio Santos’ first goals for the team.

For a while, it seemed like the night would not be so easy. Carlos Miguel Coronel had to make three saves in a span of a few seconds in the 10th minute, including a double-stop in which he pushed the ball off his far post then made a kick-save of the follow-up.

When the ball was cleared, the Union (6-3-2, 20 points) raced down the field and won a corner kick. New England only half-cleared it, and when Haris Medunjanin settled the loose ball, he spotted Jack Elliott wide open in the 18-yard box. Medunjanin put the ball on a platter, Elliott spun on a dime with it, then he struck a perfect low shot into the net.

Elliott and the rest of the team celebrated by running over to the bench and holding up the jersey of Cory Burke, who is gone for at least three months due to issues with renewing his visa.

The mood turned sour in the 33rd minute, when Brenden Aaronson suffered a left hip flexor injury in a non-contact situation.

“He felt something wasn’t right,” said Union manager Jim Curtin, who added that, while he didn’t want to speculate, he didn’t think it was “too major.”

There was a brief period between when Aaronson left the game and Ilsinho entered, and in that time Juan Fernando Caicedo finished a fast break to score for New England (2-7-2, 8 points).

Just 64 seconds after halftime. Ilsinho put the Union back ahead with a brilliant close-range flick past New England goalkeeper Cody Cropper after a nifty give-and-go with Jamiro Monteiro.

Curtin signaled his intent to keep attacking with a substitution in the 64th minute, bringing in Santos. It was the Brazilian’s first appearance since March 10, after missing eight MLS games due to a series of injuries.

Five minutes later, Santos made it 3-1. Kai Wagner made a hard charge up the left wing and crossed for Santos, whose attempt hit Revolution defender Andrew Farrell and went into the net.

Farrell’s deflection might make it an own goal in the box score, but there was no doubt that Santos delivered the Union’s fourth. He pounced on Cropper’s save of a shot by Kacper Przybylko and thumped it into the net from just off the goal line.

Przybylko scored in the 82nd with an assist from Alejandro Bedoya, and David Accam capped off the night by slamming home a rebound in the 89th.