First-place Union play badly but do enough to beat last-place CF Montréal, 2-1

The Union played far from their best on Wednesday against CF Montréal, but did enough for a 2-1 win that kept them in first place in the league.

Tai Baribo opened the scoring for the Union (14-5-4, 46 points) in the 37th minute, Prince Owusu equalized in first-half stoppage time for the last-place visitors (3-14-6, 15 points), then Olwethu Makhanya won the lead back in the 50th with his first goal for the Union’s first team.

With thick humidity accompanying temperatures in the 80s at kickoff, it was no surprise that the game started slowly. Nor was it a surprise that the crowd was pretty quiet, save for when referee Guido Gonzales Jr. made a couple of calls they didn’t like. (There were also quite a few empty seats around the stands, even for a midweek game.)

Everyone finally woke up when Baribo scored the opener, off a scrappy play. Jakob Glesnes started it with an interception, and a few passes later Danley Jean Jacques embarked on a one-man charge up the middle of the field.

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It was an impressive but fruitless run, as he ran past three Montréal defenders before getting jammed by two more and losing the ball. But Montréal’s Joel Waterman didn’t fully control his interception, and Quinn Sullivan pounced to push it toward Baribo for a quick shot. It was his 14th goal of the year, and it was well-timed: he and his wife just announced they’re expecting their first child.

Owusu’s goal was unquestionably a result of the Union’s defense switching off. Former Union centerback Brandan Craig hit a long ball across the field to Waterman, who wasn’t pressed at all and had ample time to turn, look up, and serve the ball into the box. Makhanya was watching the ball as Owusu ran between him and Kai Wagner, and the finish was easy.

The second half started much better for the home team. Sullivan tried his luck from nearly 30 yards and forced a diving save from Sebastian Breza, Wagner took the ensuing corner kick, and Makhanya jumped to head it in.

Union manager Bradley Carnell made his first substitutions with a double-move in the 60th minute. Mikael Uhre replaced Baribo at striker, returning from a five-game injury absence; and right back Frankie Westfield went in for centerback Glesnes.

The latter move was surprising, though it may have been to keep some gas in Glesnes’ tank for Saturday’s game in sweltering Houston (8:30 p.m., Apple TV). Nathan Harriel moved to what had been Glesnes’ spot.

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Those moves brought fresh legs, but they didn’t shore up the defense. Owusu came too close to scoring again in the 77th when he thumped a big header off Andre Blake’s left post with the goalkeeper frozen. Four minutes later, Blake had to make a clutch save off a Montréal free kick.

Carnell made two more subs in the 82nd, sending in Chris Donovan for Bruno Damiani up top and Alejandro Bedoya for Indiana Vassilev in midfield. Montréal promptly broke away again thanks to a Wagner error, and Blake had to make another big save after Owusu slipped while wide-open, but recovered enough to swing a shot on goal from his backside.

The Union’s last substitution was a Sullivan-for-Sullivan swap, Cavan replacing Quinn in the 86th. Four minutes of regulation and six minutes of stoppage time later, the game finally ended, and everyone who watched could forget about it.