Photo: Marjorie Elzey
Philadelphia Union entered their home match against D.C. United on Friday night as a side struggling to score goals and had just traded attacker Sergio Santos to Cincinnati. Fears of a struggling attack were quickly put to bed as Philadelphia put 7 past United, with many opportunities to make the score line even worse. It was a night where everything went right for the Union and wrong for the visitors.
On to the ratings.
Player Ratings
Andre Blake – 8
Blake wasn’t busy for most of the first half but had to make a series of good saves early in the second half. Kept another clean sheet and shut the door on any momentum for United.
Nathan Harriel– 7
A good outing after a rest against Columbus for Harriel, did miss an empty net for his first MLS goal though. Was a threat in the attack the whole first half.
Jack Elliott – 7
Not too many defensive actions for the Union on the night, but Elliott did get an assist on Carranza’s goal and had good positioning for a few blocks.
Jakob Glesnes – 6
Seemed to lose his man once or twice leading to one or two D.C. scoring chances, but another strong night for the Norwegian. Not a huge threat on set pieces though.
Kai Wagner– 8
D.C. clearly did not want to attack down Wagner’s side of the defense as Wagner was able to get up and down the field without any defensive pressure. Added 2 assists with delivery on set pieces.
Jose Martinez – 7
Kept himself out of the referee’s book and delivered a beautiful pass for Bedoya’s first goal. Wasn’t tested defensively and linked passes well with the offense.
Alejandro Bedoya – 9
A blast from the past for the captain who joined the 20 assist, 20 goal club on the night. He took both goals with poise, and got himself a deserved rest at the 65 minute mark.
Daniel Gazdag – 7
Another assist for the Hungarian, who was combining well with his attackers all night. Had a chance for a few of his own goals but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Leon Flach – 7
An assist for Flach as he continues to make strides in his offensive game. Kept Gressel at bay the majority of the match and linked play well.
Mikael Uhre – 9
2 goals for the Dane as he continues to gain form and chemistry with the team. Combined well with Gazdag for the first and had a beautiful finish for the second.
Julian Carranza – 9
The only thing keeping Carranza from getting a perfect 10 is a missed penalty and another miss at point blank range. All 3 goals were well taken, especially the third coming almost immediately after the penalty miss. Got a hat-trick, but realistically could have had 5 on the night.
Subs
Paxten Aaronson – 6
A productive 30 minutes for the younger Aaronson, who forced a save from the D.C. keeper and combined well in midfield.
Quinn Sullivan – 5
Another productive session for Sullivan who gets up and down the field well and connects passes to his attackers.
Jack McGlynn- 5
A good outing for McGlynn at the base of the diamond. Covered defensively while keeping attacking options open.
Cory Burke – 5
Not too much activity for Burke coming in for Uhre, but did help free space for Carranza on his third goal.
Brandan Craig – N/A
A debut for the young center-back as he came in for the last 5 minutes.
Player of the Match – Julian Carranza
It has to go to the hat trick hero. Finished his first and third goals extremely well and was a constant threat in front of goal. Only blemish is not adding to his goal tally with all his chances.
Geiger Counter
Ted Unkle – 6
A pretty good outing for Unkle who let both teams play and handled the match well. Got the major calls correct and didn’t hand out un-necessary cards.
I’m still embarrassed by Brujo’s pen shenanigans. If we still had someone like Ray Gaddis, it would have been his chance to score a first ever goal, but with Carannza being at least 6 slots above Brujo in the pk order, on top of winning the pen and being on a hat trick, it was just infuriatingly immature.
Maybe this doesnt move the needle for you at all but apparently martinez had a tribute ready for sergio.
I know Elliott got an assist on the second goal, but given the quality of the contact he made, I might take a point away from him for that (decent contact and the goal would have been his). 🙂
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Tough to rate Carranza with the missed PK, but it was probably best for him to miss it…or at least to take a poor shot since it will make it harder for goalkeeper’s to learn anything from it if they face him in the future. (At least I hope that wasn’t his best effort given that it was 6-0 at the time).
It looked like they moved Flach to the base of the diamond, with Craig taking over when Flach left the game.
IMO unkel is the best ref in the league and he would be ready for better comp if only he didnt fo this thing where he waits to blow the whistle on obvious calls. Countless times player that get fouled are screaming for it and get frustrated by the time unkel makes the call.
Hmmm…I don’t generally have opinions on ref quality, but reading commentary from various MLS fans around the web, you are in a very small minority that thinks Unkel is the best in the league. In fact you might be in a group of one, haha.
Referees are taught to hold their whistles and let the play continue unless there is an injury situation or play could lead to injury. By letting play continue they give themselves more time to fully consider situations. Immediate whistles ruin more games than delayed whistles. I’d say that delayed whistles never cause trouble.
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Maybe if players understand this we’d see less flopping and begging tor calls. That behavior annoys me to no end.
Agreed
On the first goal, Bedoya’s touch was #23 in a row on the possession. Just saying.
Impressive