With one late goal, the Union slayed two of their biggest demons

The Los Angeles Galaxy team that came to Subaru Park on Wednesday looked nothing like the last group to visit Chester, in 2018.

It didn’t feel like seven years had passed at kickoff, but a look at the visitors’ lineup made the point. The previous Galaxy squad had Zlatan Ibrahimović, Gio and Jonathan dos Santos, and long-ago Union players Sheanon Williams and Chris Pontius.

This year’s lot didn’t just lack Ibrahimović and the dos Santos brothers’ drawing power. It lacked three stalwarts from last year’s MLS Cup winners, all out with injuries: former Barcelona playmaker Riqui Puig and forwards Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec.

Their absences were the biggest of many reasons the Galaxy took the field astonishingly winless through 12 games, including a 7-0 crushing at the New York Red Bulls last Saturday. So if ever there was a time for the Union to finally earn their first home win over the six-time champions, the sixth chance was it.

Instead, they fell flat on their faces.

Led by the one big name who was on the field, former Borussia Dortmund and Germany playmaker Marco Reus, the Galaxy struck twice late in the first half, and took a 2-0 lead into intermission. The Union’s defense looked awful on both goals, and certainly looked like a short-staffed unit that was four games into a nine-game month.

As Union manager Bradley Carnell said after the game, “it was the trap of all traps,” and the Union fell right into it.

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

“We only had ourselves to blame,” Carnell said. “We had to show, you know, that the couple points we gave away [against] Columbus was a glitch. … We don’t want to do this every game — it takes a few years off my life.”

Jakob Glesnes apologized to the fans, acknowledging that “I don’t want to even know how it looked for the people that were paying to come here, to see us playing like that in the first half.”

Across the field, Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy might not have believed his luck. Or maybe he did, because the former Union backup had never lost to his old team in four previous meetings. He stymied the Union once with Inter Miami in 2021, famously carried Los Angeles FC to the MLS Cup title in 2022, then backstopped a Concacaf Champions League semifinal series win in 2023.

Carnell regularly bats away questions he gets about the team’s history, since he wasn’t around for it. But this time, he didn’t have to take them. What happened in the second half gave a more definitive answer than anything he could say.

» READ MORE: Josh Gros has been with the Union for their entire history, and has lots of stories to tell

It wasn’t just that Nathan Harriel and Tai Baribo scored goals early in the frame to tie the score. That was nice, but it still wasn’t enough for a win. No, it was that the Union actually did win this game, with Mikael Uhre’s chip over McCarthy setting up Baribo for a 96th-minute triumph.

The clock read 100 minutes, 39 seconds when Sergii Demianchuk — the fourth official who subbed in for Fotis Bazakos when he pulled up injured in the 76th — blew the final whistle. The Union (8-3-2, 26 points) had finally slain their oldest demon after three previous home losses and two ties against Ibrahimović, Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan, and David Beckham.

And they had finally topped McCarthy, not just formerly of the Union but of Northeast Philadelphia, North Catholic High, and La Salle. He has long known the Sullivans and Westfields, from Larry Sullivan’s coaching influence to John Westfield being a summer league teammate years ago.

Now here he was facing Quinn, Cavan, and Frankie, the last of whom came close to a winner for Father Judge — sorry, the Union — in the 84th.

» READ MORE: The Union have proven they can compete with elite teams, but they still can’t beat Columbus

“It’s just Philly people through and through, and it shows on the field,” McCarthy said. “They’re grit-and-grinders, and obviously have massive talents in young players like that.”

He’d like to come home some day, for the record. He has tried to before, but would rather not offer a hometown discount, and a player of his caliber doesn’t have to. Jim Curtin knew that, but it ended up on the list of arguments he lost against Ernst Tanner. (And we remind you that managers don’t win many arguments against sporting directors.)

McCarthy also knows he’d have only been a backup had the Union kept him instead of releasing him in 2018. His travels since have earned him not just playing time but two MLS Cups.

“This place is always home to me, this place has meaning to me,” he said. “It’s a special place to me, and it’s one team that when I play against [them], yeah, I want to beat them. When I’m not playing against them, I wish them nothing but the best, ‘cause I’m a Philly kid.”

» READ MORE: Three generations of Northeast Philadelphia’s Sullivans have made soccer history in the U.S. Open Cup

Carnell, meanwhile, had another reason to not bother with history. Andrew Rick proved again that while he’s not Andre Blake, he’s a perfectly fine backup, with plenty of room still to grow at age 19. And with his contract guaranteed through 2028, there are no worries about him leaving any time soon.

But Carnell did have to bother with the present, in the form of that ugly halftime deficit.

“When we get hit in the nose and we’re bleeding, we don’t want to drop the shoulders,” he said. “And I felt to a certain extent that we started to drop our shoulders, especially maybe [with] the experience against Columbus giving up a goal late. And then now we take two.”

The manager put it on himself at halftime, ditching the usual video analysis for some strong words to his players.

“A little shake at halftime — a little bit of belief, a little bit of confidence, no video shown,“ he said. ”It’s just about the mentality. We were able to come back, and it’s a sign of a good team that can ride these waves of adversity to bounce back.”

Carnell had initially planned to make substitutions at halftime, not just to keep players fresh for Saturday’s game at Atlanta United (7:30 p.m., Apple TV), but to throw something different at the Galaxy. But the coaching staff changed tack, deciding instead to challenge the starters to push on.

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan showed his talent in his first Union start, but also how far he has to go

“As a staff, we discussed and said, ‘Give these guys 10 more minutes,’” Carnell said.

They needed just five to tie the game. And though it took a lot longer to win it, they did, thanks to Baribo’s league-leading 10th goal of the year.

“Credit to them, because they took it personally,” Carnell said. “And that’s what I love to see. Play with an edge, play with a chip on the shoulder, and when the chips are down, we come out swinging.”