Tai Baribo Mut Trick drives Union for the perfect start

We are back for a matchday 2 edition of How we agreedAgain is ready to discuss the top performers of another Major League Soccer weekend. Since this is only the second episode, I will again put a refresher at the top: after every round of MLS games, football authors like me – and other members of the North American football reporters – vote for the MLS player of the matchday.

There are two ballots available, so I essentially classify the two best players from the 15 games in the entire matchday 2.

---

The HRB Voting paper, Matchday 2

1. Tai Baribo, Philadelphia Union

It is difficult not to vote for a player who achieves a hat trick, although not every hat trick is equated and there may be a time when I vote for a three-goal scorer. This will not be this week because the striker of the Philadelphia Union Tai Baribo gets my voice after having scored three times in the first half of the Great 4: 1 home victory of the Union against FC Cincinnati.

Philadelphia had reduced expectations this season after missing the MLS Cup playoffs in 2024 and separated from the long-time head coach Jim Curtin without lending her squad. In came ex-st. The Louis City SC trainer Bradley Carnell to lead things, and so far two competition games have looked like an unstoppable high-pressure power.

The one -sided victory against FC Cincinnati felt particularly surprisingly, since Cincinnati is usually defensive and was driven by Baribo's top wild work. Do not let us coated with sugar, none of the three Tai Baribo goals would qualify as a “banger” or examples of large individual brilliance, but you don't always have to judge a striker. Sometimes strikes are due to the time of their runs, the consciousness that they characterize in the manipulation of the lines of defense and the connections with their teammates.

Tai Baribo drives to an ✨ flying start ✨#Doop pic.twitter.com/2hqbgzyulx

– Philadelphia Union (@philaunion) March 2, 2025

Baribo's first goal was a perfect diversion of a perfect cross from the left Kai Wagner, while No. 10 Dániel Gazdag of the Union at Baribo's second and third of the game assist, with each more of the tap-in variety after complete defense breaks from Cincinnati. The quality of the target was the highest at Baribos, but his and his teammates run at the Cincy Backline tear, which normally deals with the group.

Baribo met twice in the first game of the 2025 union. It is a historical start to a season. According to MLS, Baribo is now the fourth player in the history of the league in the first two games of one season and to join Chicharito Hernández (2021), Ayo Akinola (2020) and Brian Ching (2006).

The union are among the two Eastern Conference teams (alongside Columbus Crew), who score two victories in the first two games, and they have created the team on the left and right, barbo for a large part of this early success, with three players (Wagner, Quinn Sullivan and Gazdag), which already League-top 10 top top top-top top-top top-top top tops in two games.

2025 🇺🇸 Major League Soccer-Torchewrungs campaigns Jayden Nelson (5) Quinn Sullivan (4) Kai Wagner (4) Martín Ojeda (3) Petar Musa (3) Dániel Gazdag (3) Telasco Segovia (3) Cristian Espinoza (3) https://fbref.com/en/comps/22/gca/major-league-soccer-stats

-Fbref (@fbref.com) 2025-03-03T18: 01: 09.359z

2. Luis Suárez, Inter Miami CF

Is there a cognitive dissonance that I chose as a player of the match day last week, but Luis Suárez on the ballot papers this week with an identical statistics – one goal, three assists? Yes, but this is an opinion exercise, and I have given Baribo the highest honor due to the competition and the way he was in a rigid manner.

However, Suárez deserves his flowers because he was the Lionel Messi replacement for Miami's journey to take over against Houston Dynamo in the second Sunday Night Soccer. Yes, Messi was already in Houston, a victim of the dreaded “cargo management”, already here at Matchday 2, Miami, with Miami between MLS and Concacaf Champions Cup obligations. The dynamo thought it was necessary to publish an official explanation of Messi's absence and offer their fans make-goods, as life is when the Messi circus comes to the city or comes into town.

The three templates were nice teamwork from Suárez, but he didn't really pull the strings and breaks the lines with his death. One of these templates was more about Tadeo Allende's ridiculous far finish from some distance, the other two, who led to TELASCO SEGOVIA gates.

However, Suárez 'goal was an impressive individual moment of “I still have” from the 38-year-old striker. Bad knees and everything, Suárez dribbles smoothly through this dynamo defense and puts his finish onto the roof of a helpless goal of Andrew Tarbell.

One of the best strikers of all time! 💥

Luis Suarez cuts the defense for his first goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/0Z7xnnxzm

– Major League Soccer (@mls) March 3, 2025

It made it a 0-4 lead for the visit of Inter Miami and was an exclamation mark on an excellent second game for Suárez after his only remarkable commitment to NYCFC on matchday 1 Birk Risk Nach and got a fine.

Lionel Messi, punished Luis Suárez after confronting New York City FC

Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez were punished for separate but strangely similar actions: What about all the neck grabbing in Florida?

---

Official Matchday player: Tai Baribo

It only took two weeks for my ballot papers and the official results of the MLS player of the Matchday vote converge, and here we are. MLS says that this is Baribos a second time as a player of the game day, which makes him the fourth Union player who deserves this honor several times.

---

Official MLS team of the matchday

Start dishes: Chris Brady (Chi) – Ryan Hollingshead (LAFC), Michael Boxall (min), Mohamed Farsi (CLB) – Wilfried Zaha (CLT), Emil Forsberg (RBNY), César Araújo (Orl), Telasco Segovia (Mia) – Brian White (van), Tai Barfo (Phi), Phi. (Mia)

Trainer: Bradley Carnell (Phi)

Bank: James Pantemis (POR), Alex Freeman (Orl), Jeppe Tverskov (SD), Quinn Sullivan (Phi), David da Costa (Por), Kelvin Yeboah (min), Rafael Navarro (Col), Petar Musa (Dal), Hugo Cuypers (Chi)

In the 62nd minute, Ryan Hollingshead only came up with this LAFC victory against New York City FC, but that was a lot of time for him, unmarked and alone at the back post to achieve this winner of the 86th minute, and so it was enough playing time to secure a place on the start-XI of the game day. Eight starters and the trainer all come from the Eastern Conference, a big match day for this side of the league.