Union snap winless streak with easy 2-0 win over New York Red Bulls

The Union snapped their two-games-and-a-postponement winless streak in fine fashion Saturday night, beating the rival New York Red Bulls 2-0 at Subaru Park.

Both goals came in the first half, from Indiana Vassilev in the ninth minute and Bruno Damiani in the 24th.

The win plus other results moved the Union (13-5-4, 43 points) back into first place in the Eastern Conference. And it extended the team’s unbeaten streak against the Red Bulls (8-8-6, 30 points) to 15 games over six years, going back to the 2019 playoffs.

Union manager Bradley Carnell rolled out the same starting lineup that would have started Wednesday’s rained-out Open Cup contest, and was rewarded early for sticking with those players.

Vassilev’s opener came from about as close range as you could draw up. Kai Wagner took a corner kick that went over most of the crowd in the box, and landed at Olwethu Makhanya’s feet near the goal line. Makhanya turned to try to nudge the ball in, Kyle Duncan blocked him, and Vassilev was right there to thump in the ricochet.

Damiani’s goal capped off a pretty play. Wagner fed the Uruguayan, who laid off a first-touch pass to Tai Baribo that was in turn squared with a first touch to Quinn Sullivan. He then hit his own first-touch through ball that split two defenders, Damiani raced onto it, and slid a left-footed curler to New York goalie Carlos Coronel’s far post.

It was made all the better that Damiani stayed onside by about an inch as he made his run. Noah Eile, one of the centerbacks in New York’s 3-4-3 formation, was the guilty party for keeping Damiani on — or at least close enough that the video review officials didn’t overturn the given goal.

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The goal was Damiani’s first from open play in 14 games, dating back to April 26. His two other goals were penalty kicks, and his tally for the year now stands at five.

New York manager Sandro Schwarz showed his view of his team’s performance by making two defensive substitutions at halftime, one on the back line and one in midfield.

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Carnell made his first substitutions in the 72nd minute, and both were more intriguing than usual. Frankie Westfield entered for Sullivan, then took the right back spot and moved Nathan Harriel up to Sullivan’s attacking midfield role; and academy product Sal Olivas subbed in for Damiani at striker.

That Olivas was called on instead of usual substitute Chris Donovan was surprising. It was Olivas’ second appearance for the first team, the first having come June 29 at Columbus when the Union were shorthanded.

The next subs came in the 85th, by which time a big portion of the crowd had already started to beat the traffic. Alejandro Bedoya replaced Vassilev and Jeremy Rafanello replaced Baribo, shifting the Union’s formation to a 4-2-3-1.

Bedoya sprung Olivas on a breakaway in the 89th that almost surprised the 19-year-old. Olivas hustled to corral the ball and raced away, but his shot was denied by Coronel with a diving save.

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The rest of the night, including five minutes of stoppage time, was mostly spent seeing things out defensively. Though the Union’s defense got a bit loose at times, New York rarely threatened. The Red Bulls didn’t land an official shot on goal all night until the 94th, and Andre Blake barely had to move to save it.

Donovan ended up making a brief cameo right after that, replacing Harriel. It lasted barely a minute, as referee Marcos DeOliveira blew his whistle right at 95:00.