Tai Baribo will try to continue his stretch as the hottest striker in MLS on Saturday when his Philadelphia Union host a New England Revolution team that has yet to score two matches into its second season under manager Caleb Porter.
Baribo languished on Philadelphia’s bench last season until the summer departure of Julian Carranza to Europe created an opportunity. It was one he seized by scoring nine goals in MLS play, and now he has a league-leading five through two games of the new season.
That has helped the Union (2-0-0, 6 points) to a perfect start under incoming boss Bradley Carnell, who is replacing the very popular Jim Curtin after the club parted ways with Curti in November.
Bruno Damiani scored the Union’s last goal in a 4-1 win over visiting FC Cincinnati last week in his MLS debut off the bench. And while Baribo has been the most potent offensive weapon so far, Carnell believes that’s partly down to the approach his whole squad is employing.
“I see the whole group, and not just Tai specifically, I see a whole group that’s selfless, that they’re trying to reward the next guy up,” the coach said. “The harder these guys are working, the more that they’re creating. And it’s a bit of a change in the mindset, because it would be like, ‘Wait, we’re defending? But we’re creating more chances.'”
That hasn’t been the case for New England (0-1-1, 1 point), which conceded for the first time this season in its 1-0 home defeat to the Columbus Crew last week but still hasn’t found the net.
The Revolution struggled to create chances after going behind early in the second half. Also, a penalty kick awarded after a free kick from New England’s Carles Gil kick struck Dylan Chambost in the side and possibly beneath the arm was overturned.
However, after a miserable first season at the helm, Porter says Job 1 early in Year 2 is tightening a rearguard that conceded 74 times, the second-most in MLS last season. So far, New England is succeeding in that regard.
“We leave disappointed because we didn’t win the game, but we have to keep a perspective that we’ve been together not even six weeks … and we have prioritized the defending,” Porter said of the defeat against the Crew. “We need to find the balance where we’re creating more chances, for sure.”
–Field Level Media
