Photo: Howie Pollard
Philadelphia Union have — still — never won at Toyota Stadium.
Jesus Ferreira’s 34th minute goal was all FC Dallas needed to defeat the Union 1-0 on a muggy Wednesday evening in Frisco, Texas.
Although the loss was Philly’s second in a three-game stretch, the Union remain at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, five points clear of CF Montreal.
With a midweek match sandwiched between two Saturday games, Jim Curtin shuffled his deck a bit, changing three players from the lineup that defeated Chicago Fire. Cory Burke replaced Mikael Uhre up top, while Jose Martinez was restored to the midfield in place of Jack McGlynn, and early-season starter Nathan Harriel rotated in for Olivier Mbaizo at right back.
The Union started brightly in baking Toyota Stadium, pinning Dallas in their own end for the first 10 minutes and creating a few quality set pieces. Any time Jesus Ferreira is playing a back pass to his own keeper, something is going right.
The teams traded chances around the 17th minute. For Dallas, a long ball over the top found Paul Arriola, who got behind the defense and fired wide from a tough angle. For Philly, Julian Carranza hit a looping long-range shot that forced Maarten Paes into a leaping save.
Dallas fans chanted for a VAR review in the 25th minute, when a dangerous shot from Ferreira took a deflection off Jack Elliott and fell harmlessly into Andre Blake’s arms. But VAR didn’t intervene, though subsequent replay did show contact with Elliot’s arm.
Ferreira showed his quality in the 34th minute, firing Dallas into the lead. Attacking down the right wing, Arriola found Ferreira in a pocket of space at the edge of the box. The U.S. international striker controlled the ball, got around Jakob Glesnes with a quality touch, and blasted his shot into the far corner, leaving Blake no chance.
Somewhat out of nowhere, the home team looked ascendant. On the counter-attack, Alan Velasco forced Blake into another save on a shot from distance. A pause for treatment for Burke after a collision gave the Union a needed respite. Though Burke continued for about five minutes, ultimately he required a substitution, and Mikael Uhre replaced him at the start of first-half stoppage time.
The Union went into the break trailing for the just the second time in 2022.
Dallas kept up the pressure after the break. Ferreira nearly doubled the lead at the start of the second half, looking to sneak his shot past Blake’s near post. But the Union’s longtime keeper was up to the task, getting down to parry the ball away. Five minutes later, Ferreira turned provider, putting a looping ball between the two center backs for Arriola, From a dangerous position, the former D.C. winger’s header somehow went wide. Velasco, too, flashed a shot just past the post moments after.
Uhre got into the game, testing Paes at the near post after a good cutback from Leon Flach. Dallas’s keeper, though, did well to parry the ball aside.
Down a goal, Curtin made two attack-minded changes in the 59th minute, introducing Jack McGlynn and Olivier Mbaizo for Flach and Harriel.
A foul on Daniel Gazdag on the edge of the Dallas box gave McGlynn an opportunity to score another free-kick banger. But the Homegrown’s strike was on the ground and didn’t really trouble Paes.
Despite the need for an equalizer, the Union couldn’t generate much offense in the back half of the second half, with Dallas fashioning the better of the opportunities. Paxten Aaronson and Chris Donovan replaced Martinez and Carranza with just three minutes to play, as Curtin went all out for a result.
But, even though there was plenty of huffing and puffing, the Union never came close to blowing the house down.
The loss was just Philly’s fourth of the season.
The Union’s busy week ends with another road game, this time a trip down I-95 to face Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United. Kickoff from Audi Field on Saturday is at 7:30 p.m.
Three Points
- Toothless. After a bright start that left FC Dallas on their heels, the Union couldn’t seize control of the match with an opening goal. And, needing an equalizer for two-thirds of the match, the Boys in Blue never really came close to finding one.
- Jesus Ferreira is good. The USMNT striker continued to make his case for a spot on the World Cup roster. His control, turn, and finish for the goal were all high-quality.
- Rebound. A midweek road match against a tough Western Conference team never looked like a likely win. Saturday’s game against D.C. looks a tastier option.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union
Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Nathan Harriel (Olivier Mbaizo 59′), Jose Martinez (Paxten Aaronson 88′), Leon Flach (Jack McGlynn 59′), Alejandro Bedoya, Daniel Gazdag, Cory Burke (Mikael Uhre 45′), Julian Carranza (Chris Donovan 88′)
Unused subs: Matt Freese, Matt Real, Brandan Craig, Quinn Sullivan
FC Dallas
Maarten Paes, Marco Farfan, Jose Martinez, Matt Hedges, Ema Twumasi, Sebastian Lletget (Nkosi Tafari 86′), Edwin Cerillo, Paxton Pomykal, Paul Arriola (Tsiki Ntsabeleng 90+2′), Jesus Ferreira (Franco Jara 82′), Alan Velasco (Nanu 90+1′)
Unused subs: Jimmy Maurer, Joshue Quinonez, Kalil ElMedkhar, Beni Redzic, Jader Obrian
Scoring Summary
FCD: Jesus Ferreira — 34′ (Paul Arriola, Sebastian Lletget)
Discipline Summary
FCD: Jose Martinez — 62′ (time wasting)
PHI: Daniel Gazdag — 73′ (foul)
PHI: Olivier Mbaizo — 75′ (other reason)
FCD: Jesus Ferreira — 75′ (other reason)
Statistics
| FCD | Statistic | PHI | FCD | Statistic | PHI |
|
46.8 |
Possession % | 53.2 | 38 | Duels Won | 42 |
| 13 | Shots | 10 | 4 | Tackles Won |
11 |
|
5 |
Shots on Goal | 3 | 3 | Saves | 4 |
| 2 | Blocked Shots | 3 | 26 | Clearances |
4 |
|
391 |
Total Passes | 425 | 12 | Fouls | 15 |
| 82.9 | Pass Accuracy % | 83.1 | 2 | Yellow Cards |
2 |
|
2 |
Corners | 7 | 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 8 | Crosses | 25 | .9 | xG |
.5 |
|
2 |
Offsides |
0 |
Summed up well. Now recover, refocus, start McGlynn (pretty please?), beat D.C.
What he said ^^^^ +1
Dallas looked good. Was hoping for an equalizer but never felt like we had it coming. After the earlier Phils walk off loss, and I felt like the sports gods were against us today. Stuck it out for the whole match but subs never changed the momentum.
Not much to say about that game. They were lovely and looked good for about 30 min. Dallas eased in to game and took control. They are supposed to do that.
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Union are not The Invincibles. As always – comes down to how they respond. One off losses are acceptable along the way particularly against good teams. For those of you arguing Supports Shield Supporters Shield along the way this half season—time to let that go. Which is fine too.
I like the McGlynn bloke. Hope he gets more time on the pitch.
Game was pacy, which is pretty remarkable when you consider the heat. These lads are fit.
Sorry for the loss, but Union are still on top in the east, and things are winding down.
Come the knockouts, though, the strikers will need to really step up.
Cheers all around…
I had the same thought about fitness and heat. The pace of the first 20 minutes was simply not sustainable and I suspect Dallas knew that they just had to weather that storm before they could assert themselves more confidently.
Despite the scoreline compared with Cincinnati, this was probably the worst game the team played this season. Several times it looked like Glesnes and Elliott were trying to give the ball away in bad positions. Wagner’s crosses were sailing out of bounds. The offense looked like it was trying to go through a brick wall and when they did get open, they shot it wide.
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Looks like Nashville owes Mbaizo a thank you since he got Ferreira suspended for card accumulation.
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Hopefully the Union can turn it around on Saturday against DC who has an extra days rest but has a 3 time zone change compared to 1 for the U.
THIS right here.
Sometimes you play well and still lose. For me, that’s the first half. Aesthetically pleasing. One touch passes. Total control. And there were some great chances that just didn’t find the net.
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Credit to Ferrierra, one shot and it was a doozy.
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After the goal, the game became end to end for a period as we looked to even up. Unfortunately, that was playing the emotions not the conditions. It clearly took it out of the them. After that, it seemed the whole back line was struggling with every run, the passes were off target, sloppy. I’ve never seen Kai with service that bad.
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It’s a shame because I thought Carranza and Flach had a really good game.
Reduced expectations. Already have a supporter shield. Hoping for a top four finish, and at least one home playoff game. No 1 in the East would be nice.
Anyone know who Abasa Aremeyaw is? He’s on the Union roster at MLS.com
He was an 18 year center back the Union signed during the transfer window a couple of weeks back. As of Monday he is a 19 year old but everything else remains the same.
Forgot to mention that the only thing worse than the Union last night was the video broadcast. There were at least two times live action was going on where the video was showing a replay. One of those two was a Union corner kick. How do broadcasters switch away from that?
The video producer had a bad game. Frustrating when they choose extended replays when we know the live action is compelling.
Saying that, thank God philadelphiaunion.com streams the games.
Espn+ had it blacked out and I don’t pay for nbcsports.
If you have Hulu it connects with espn+ and oftentimes plays games there that are blacked out on espn+..ESPN… super weird I know but that is how I’ve been able to catch games on replay and such when ESPN is being a jerk to me
Agree, it was annoying AF.
So everyone is saying they welcome the Apple+ deal?
I’m confused…. I feel Apple and Head Clown Garber had a money grab, Sepp Lather me up in Qatar!
I don’t welcome Apple+, I welcome competent producers, especially for a team that has been in the league for 25 years like Dallas.
The performance was lacking — Wagner in particular just seemed off — but they were on the road, against a good team, on short rest, in 92 degree heat. Even with 2 losses in the last 3 games, I can’t be terribly concerned about this one. DC this weekend should be more opportune, though they appear somewhat revived since Rooney took over…
Totally agree. It was almost as if Wagner was playing under the weather, he was WAY off his normal levels.
Thought that Glesnes was offvas well. Think Dallas let the U burn themselves out. Then game on for the home side. Not a horrible loss. But they need a better game against NE.
Wganer is an alcoholic. The signs are there.
Go on …?
Troll.
Says the guy who can’t even spell his name lol. JustMe, or are you drunk commenting?