Tai Baribo’s heroics give the Union their first ever home win over the Los Angeles Galaxy

The Union came from behind in stunning fashion to beat the Los Angeles Galaxy, 3-2, on Wednesday at Subaru Park.

In front of a crowd small enough that players’ shouts to each other could be heard from the press box, the Union (8-3-2, 26 points) fell into a 2-0 hole in the first half against a Galaxy team that was the last winless outfit in MLS (0-10-3, 3 points). Mauricio Cuevas and Diego Fagúndez scored in the 31st and 37th minutes, respectively.

But Nathan Harriel scored in the 48th, Tai Baribo equalized in the 50th, and Baribo scored a winner in the 96th to give the Union their first home win over the Galaxy in the team’s 16-year history. It was also just the Union‘s second ever win over the six-time champions in 14 all-time meetings.

A day after Union manager Bradley Carnell finally revealed that Andre Blake has been dealing with fluid in his knee, the star goalkeeper sat out a third straight game. Andrew Rick started, which meant both teams started a player who’s been one of Blake’s backups over the years.

For the Galaxy, it was John McCarthy, the product of Northeast Philadelphia, North Catholic, and La Salle who was with the Union from 2015-18. This was his fifth game against his hometown team, and the first loss. He previously had three wins and a tie, with the most famous win being his heroics as a substitute in the 2022 MLS Cup final.

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The Galaxy didn‘t just take the field winless. They were coming off a 7-0 thrashing at the New York Red Bulls four days earlier. Sure, they had a point to prove, but the Red Bulls’ press had run the champs over, and the Union play a similar style.

This time, though, the Union‘s signature pressure defense was barely visible. The Galaxy waited out the first half-hour, then took the hosts’ high line apart.

Former Germany national team and Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus set up both goals with easy assists, the first on a counterattack and the second by helping his team pass around a shockingly static Union defense.

The opener was Los Angeles’ first goal in 228 minutes of action spanning four games: a 4-2 loss to Portland on April 27 and shutouts against Kansas City and the Red Bulls afterward. (The Kansas City game was a 1-0 defeat with an own goal, and notably marked the first time in MLS history that a team won a game without officially taking a shot.)

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At halftime, the Union had a 9-2 advantage in shots, including 4-2 in shots on target. But that didn‘t matter. The crowd, which included a large number of empty seats, offered a chorus of boos as the teams left the field.

As ugly as the first half was, the Union‘s rally at the start of the second was pretty remarkable. Harriel got the breakthrough by redirecting Jakob Glesnes’ header of a corner kick, then Indiana Vassilev set up Danley Jean Jacques for a cross to Baribo’s header.

Carnell made his first substitutions in the 58th minute, sending in Mikael Uhre for Bruno Damiani and Alejandro Bedoya for Quinn Sullivan.

There was an unusual break in the action in the 76th minute when referee Fotis Bazakos called his own number on account of a minor injury. The fourth official, Sergii Demianchuk, stepped into the middle for the rest of the game. He had refereed eight MLS games before this one, including four this year.

The Union peppered McCarthy with shots in the last 10 minutes, including a few from his fellow Northeast Philadelphia native Frankie Westfield. But none went in, even after two more pairs of fresh legs entered in the 85th: Cavan Sullivan for Vassilev and Olwethu Makhanya for Westfield.

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There were eight minutes of stoppage time, and for most of them it didn‘t seem like there would be a winner. But the Union‘s push finally paid off. Sullivan and Bedoya helped recycle a corner kick, Uhre brought down Bedoya‘s header, and Uhre chipped the ball back from the end line for Baribo to head in.