Union takeaways: Bad defense turns a potential big win vs. Cincinnati into a disappointing tie

"It can’t look so good in the first half, where we probably could have had four goals, and then [the] second half, you concede early and give them hope," Union manager Jim Curtin said.

The Union's Julián Carranza laments a missed scoring chance during the second half.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Sep. 17, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

Here are our day-after takeaways on the Union’s 2-2 tie with FC Cincinnati at Subaru Park, a game the home team squandered by blowing a 2-0 halftime lead.

Man of the match

José Andrés Martínez. There was the highlight-reel goal he scored, but also a lot more, even though he wasn’t on the ball as much as usual — just 32 touches and 14-of-17 passing in 63 minutes. He had eight defensive recoveries, one interception, and one tackle, and won four of the seven duels he contested.

Martínez left the game when he did because of an incident in the 59th minute. He took contact from Cincinnati’s Junior Moreno in a one-on-one battle during a Union attack, and though Martínez got past his fellow Venezuelan, he contorted himself awkwardly as he swung a cross back into the middle.

Somewhere in there, Martínez suffered what manager Jim Curtin said after the game was a back injury. Martínez was seen on the TV broadcast pointing at his lower back as the Union’s medical staff attended to him. With a short turnaround to the next game, that’s a concern.

Key offensive stat

0.33: The Union’s expected goals sum in the second half, from eight shots. Just one was on target, and four were blocked.

Key defensive stat

7: The number of shots taken by Cincinnati star striker Brandon Vazquez, including his game-tying goal in the 76th minute.

Vazquez has had some looks with the U.S. men’s national team this year, and for good reason. There are other players ahead of him on the depth chart, with Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi at the top. But it’s fine to have depth, and Vazquez has a big frame and the intangible know-how to finish.

Notable quotes

“We don’t have enough midfielders right now to play a diamond, unfortunately. … I don’t blame the formation in this instance. Because it can’t look so good in the first half, where we probably could have had four goals, and then [the] second half, you concede early and give them hope. That’s the biggest thing.”

— Curtin on the team’s defensive struggles in the second half, when the team’s 3-5-2 formation couldn’t keep up with Cincinnati playing the same style.

“Maybe we thought that we won the game a little bit, which is a mistake, always.”

— Union midfielder Dániel Gazdag’s view of when things went wrong.

“I think we were nonexistent in the second half. Even though we still created chances and we still tried to play, I don’t think we were at our best at all.”

— Union centerback Damion Lowe’s reflections.

Biggest result elsewhere

Orlando City 4, Columbus Crew 3. After Cucho Hernández put the Crew up, 3-1, in the 68th minute, Orlando staged a stunning late comeback. Facundo Torres scored in the 73rd minute, and Ramiro Enrique struck in the 86th minute to tie the game and the 97th to win it.

With the win, the Lions became the second team leaguewide to reach 50 points in the standings this year, and they took a firm grip on second place in the Eastern Conference.

And even though this piece is always MLS-focused, we can’t help noting a big result in the NWSL. Spanish World Cup champion Esther González scored twice in her Gotham FC home debut on Saturday, delivering a 2-0 win over the Washington Spirit.

Hopefully you read our recent feature on González’s arrival in New York, and what it means for her new team and the league. This game had all the proof you could want, as González combined with U.S. national team veteran Lynn Williams on Gotham’s second goal.

Up next

The Union play the first of three straight midweek games, heading south to Charlotte FC for a Wednesday contest (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, free). It’s their first visit to Bank of America Stadium’s artificial turf since last year’s 4-0 loss in the next-to-last game of the season, a result that cost the Union a shot at the Supporters’ Shield.

Then it will be back home to host Los Angeles FC for the first time since the Champions League semifinals earlier this year. That series took some of the shine off the regular-season meeting, but it still will be a big deal. There already were billboards advertising the game by the Schuylkill Expressway late Saturday night.