Union midfielder Jesus Bueno celebrates after his second-half goal against CF Montreal on Saturday at Stade Saputo. (David Kirouac-Imagn Images) David Kirouac-Imagn Images
There was a reason that Bradley Carnell turned to Jesus Bueno Saturday for a start in Montreal.
Part of it was Danley Jean Jacques nursing a knee injury from international duty, leaving an opening in the Philadelphia Union midfield. Part of it was the psychology of the Venezuelan being one of the longest tenured members of the Union, one of those for whom a six-game losing streak to start the season was most acutely painful.
And part of it was the intangible nature of Bueno’s game. The midfield duties within the Union’s game model lend themselves to improvisation. Bueno can do the rudiments of the job, but when asked to make something extra happen, he more than most can do find a way to do something extra.
The Union insisted, through an infernal stretch of six losses to open the campaign, that the difference between wins and loss was slight, five one-goal defeats among the supporting evidence. More than that quantitative margin, the deficit stemmed from a lack of winning plays, of clutch contributions at key moments, of an ineffable game awareness. Bueno’s ability there is rarely in doubt.
His goal in the 70th minute, a late flashing run into the box to bury a nodded on feed against a distorted Montreal backline, has for the time being saved a season sliding toward oblivion, a 2-1 decision for the first win of the season that finally relieved the mounting pressure on the Union’s shoulders.
“It's been a long seven weeks,” Carnell said. “I think showing a bit of adversity today going a goal down, but I think the group figured out during the game to find a way to bring success in the key moments.”
Bueno for the lead! 👊#DOOP | 🔔 2-1 🔵 pic.twitter.com/Lwpk5WZTZR
Bueno was outstanding in all the measurable ways. He completed 90 percent of his passes (36 of 40). He had 54 touches all over the park. He played five passes into the final third and was accurate on half of his long balls. He didn’t commit a foul, with a clearance and three recoveries.
Those kinds of numbers are in line with what the Union’s midfield has produced – good, good enough even, but in moments of crisis not sufficient to break the inertia of a massive losing streak to begin the season. To jolt them from that stupor would take something special, something proactive, something more than just adapting to the game and hoping for the best.
It would take moments like Bueno taking a rip from 25 yards out in first-half stoppage time and forcing a leaping save from goalie Thomas Gillier. And it would take the run he made in the 70th, Ezekiel Alladoh pulling the Montreal center backs toward the throw-in of Nate Harriel only to nod it backwards into a channel of space that Bueno pierced with his run, lashing home a right-footed shot.
“He plays with a lot of pride,” Carnell said. “He plays with a lot on the line, and he gives everything every single day. So, I'm really happy for Jesus. He had a great shot in the first half, and Gillier makes an excellent save. But I just think he was in the right spacing, the right moments. He has a good dynamic of when to attack and when to go and when to hold up just behind the 10s and securing the defense.”
Problems persist. The Union conceded first for the seventh straight game, thus a seventh non-shutout. Their transition defense still leaves something to be desired, as shown by the far too easy opening goal from Ivan Jaime. Montreal (1-6-0, 3 points) is a bad team that fired coach Marco Donadel Sunday morning; getting full points against them isn’t exactly a reputational cornerstone.
More important is that the Union improved on their own failings week to week. They dominated in the second half with nine shots. They had six shots on target. They created a dangerous set-piece opportunity in the 55th when Japhet Sery Larsen’s glancing run on Milan Iloski’s delivery resulted in the center back’s first goal. They got contributions from Bruno Damiani that included his first shots on target of the season and the best performance yet from Alladoh.
Carnell said that Damiani and Iloski, who started together up top, provided a “deliberate response … in the way they were moving and freeing up others and getting into space” that is particularly vital for a Montreal defense that opts to man-mark opponents in the final third. Carnell was even more effusive for the “excellent” Alladoh.
“There's been a lot of information, a lot of expectation, and everyone at the club has invested in him, invested in extra film and extra training,” he said. “And he's invested as well. I think we can start to see, slowly turning around in terms of what he can offer us, just not a hold-up presence but also a physical, athletic presence, getting in behind and really changing the dynamic of a game.”
More than any individual or unit, the Union did Saturday what they’ve collectively failed to all season. They met the moment, not letting it get to big, as Carnell had diagnosed in weeks past. If there was anyone on this team, based on his history in the clutch if not his total volume of contributions, that was capable of doing that when the team most needed it, it had to be Bueno.
He delivered again at the biggest time.
“You could sense it at halftime, that there's not much missing there,” Carnell said. “We know that Montreal conceded a few goals late in games, whether it's been a man up or numbers even. And we stayed true to the course and got rewarded for it.”
