Photo Credit: Ruairi Rossi
Despite a well-earned goal by Quinn Sullivan, the Union fell 2-1 to Orlando City in the first of two road games leading up to Decision Day.
Head Coach Jim Curtin made three changes to the starting lineup he’d used for the previous two matches. Olivier Mbaizo joined the backline in lieu of Nate Harriel while the midfield saw Danley Jean Jacques and Alejandro Bedoya starting over Leon Flach and Quinn Sullivan.
In what was a slow starting first half, the Union struggled to find their footing as Orlando City dominated possession for the first 20 minutes of the match. Despite seven shots on goal, the Lions were kept scoreless, thanks in part to defensive play by Jakob Glesnes. The Boys in Blue wouldn’t have their own chance at a goal until the 21′, and much like the following 6 attempts, none hit the mark.
A scoreless first half inspired Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja to make his own subsitution: Iván Angulo for forward Luis Muriel. Muriel’s impact was near immediate, as he connected with Facundo Torres in the 57′. With the goal, Torres claimed Orlando’s all-time scoring record.
Not even 10 minutes later, Muriel assisted on another goal, finding Duncan McGuire, who had come off the bench himself just minutes prior.
Orlando’s lead would be cut in half with 20 minutes left in the match, as this time a Union substitute found the back of the net. Off a throw in, Daniel Gazdag perfectly placed the ball for Quinn Sullivan to kiss it off the crossbar and over the goal line.
Despite multiple shot attempts in the final minutes–including three seperate aeriel attempts by Nathan Harriel, the Union found themselves coming up short, and ultimately, sliding out of playoff standings (for now).
Philadelphia continue their end-of-season road trip on Saturday night as they battle defending MLS Cup Champions Columbus Crew. Kick off from Ohio is set for 7:30PM ET on MLS Season Pass.
Three points
- Lineup changes: I’ll be the first to admit to being surprised by the changes in the Starting XI, as Sullivan especially has been such a big part of the energy our team has had as of late. Somehow, even with “fresh” players…the team looked gassed?
- Andre Blake: While Glesnes has been taking the goal kicks for the last 2 matches, some might have seen Andre limping after his last save as the final whistle blew. It’ll be important to keep an eye on the situation, given Philly’s quick turnaround before their next match.
- Goal Differential: Right about now, it’s the only thing we’ve got going for us. Given the buffer we have, what’s stopping Jim from aggressively pressing in these last two games and doing everything posisble to get a win (or two)?
Lineups
Philadelphia: Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Olivier Mbaizo (Nathan Harriel–63′), Danley Jean Jacques, Jack McGlynn (Jesus Bueno –89′), Alejandro Bedoya (Quinn Sullivan–63′), Daniel Gazdag, Mikael Uhre, Tai Baribo (Samuel Adeniran–73′)
Unused subs: Andrew Rick, Leon Flach, Jeremy Rafanello, Cavan Sullivan, Chris Donovan
Orlando City: Pedro Gallese, Kyle Smith (Mikey Halliday — 80′), Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson, Rafael Santos, Ivan Angulo (Luis Muriel–46′), Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena, Facundo Torres (Nico Lodeiro — 77′), Martin Ojeda (Duncan McGuire –61′), Ramiro Enrique (Luca Petrasso –77′)
Unused subs: Javier Otero, Heine Gikling Bruseth, Felipe, Luis Muriel, Yutaro Tsukada
Scoring summary
ORL – Facundo Torres — 57′
ORL – Duncan McGuire — 64′
PHI – Quinn Sullivan — 72′
Misconduct summary
ORL – Rodrigo Schlegel — 19′
PHI – Daniel Gazdag — 68′
ORL – Facundo Torres — 69′
PHI – Kai Wagner — 74′
PHI – Mikael Uhre — 90’+1′
ORL – César Araújo — 90’+2′
ORL – Duncan McGuire — 90’+5′
Of course they did.
THREE THINGS TONIGHT PLEASE.
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1. I’d like to say… WOW. Muriel was unbelievable. He’s exactly the kind of 1st tiered player Union should be targeting… not Redondo, not Messi, not Giroud, not Bale or Busquets… those guys are Tiffany players that do not fit the business plan. Fine.
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Muriel? EXACTLY the type of player they need to prioritize —> 2.8 million over 3 years 4.4 million cap hit. This is the cost of even doing business in this MLS with hopes of being relevant against the top echelon.
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2. So goddamn tired of Union right backs and the posters here who undersold Ray Gaddis’ value in favor of a player like Mbazio. And what of Jack McGlynn’s continued IGNORANCE defensively. Tracking runners is elementary soccer. Table stakes. Europe? No fucking way.
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3. And most important tonight…someone help me understand how Bedoya starts this game. Quinn Sullivan has been the most dangerous / best player on the field for Union. These are absolute must win games. Jesus Jim. Maybe I missed it and Quinn is not 100%. But it ridiculous he didn’t start.
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I’m with you on all three points. Been screaming #2 for a year now.
When I saw the lineup, my first thought was, why is quinn not starting. He has been so dangerous the last few games. I know he makes some mistakes, but he’s the one person who is aggressively pushing forward
It’s Oct. we’re still watching? Maybe this weekend we’ll see Rick again.
It’s over. Even if we make the playoff by some miracle. Blake is not close to healthy. Sullivan was the best surprise this year. Mcglynn the biggest disappointment . As Pac said he does not know how to turn and go in the opposite direction when he has to to. Love Bedoya but I have said all year the Union must replace him with someone with an everday olayer with the qualities and skills of ” Barnetta ” at age 28 to 32. It’s so sad that we have an owner that only cares that as long as he is selling off accademy prospects who barely have experience to rich European teams he is very happy.
Here are my three things:
1. It’s hard to win when your midfield is as ineffective as that. Danley and McGlynn grew into the game but Bedoya and Gazdag were poor all night.
2. I feel bad for Harriel. He really should have finished at least 1 header, but at least he brought some energy and created chances.
3. I blame Apple TV for the loss. They called our away kits “tan”. No team anywhere ever won a game playing in tan kits.
Year one’s all nude kits were tan and funny looking. They also didn’t win much in them.. your thesis is compelling.
If they start calling us “khaki” we’ll know any hope of winning is gone.
This team has become a joke. It’s over. I would have hoped to attend my last home game as a STH with some chance they might play well, but I guess not. They play to an ignominious end, just as they started. 14 years, no trophies, not much hope that they will ever be anything but a middling team. This city’s fan base deserves more than Sugarman can/will ever provide.
No reason to expand the stadium because they are about to lose the fan base. You can’t compete in MLS with just a good academy, especially when you plan to sell them before their Prime years.
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By my very amateur eye test can anyone make a case for Adeniran over Donovan? He looks like the same player with no hustle and the same skill level.
Don’t know what the point of getting this squad into the playoffs could be other than some gate receipts. They’re cooked. It’s rebuilding time. This whole season plus general MLS malaise has given me the blahs about the whole enterprise. The Union and the league. I hope this team does something to get my attention for next season, because I’m low on supply.
Nothing new here. The season grinds on to its ignominious end.
Don’t overthink it… Union just was not up for this game. Somehow, even with the collective understanding of the playoff line. In the first half they were out of sync and had no chemistry. By luck or by laziness they lost every second ball. Glesnes and Elliott were positioned abnormally far back, probably because Orlando won the ball back so quickly that they never had a chance to progress upfield. In 2H, players were flat out DOGGING it. Shame on Curtin for not yanking them sooner. Orlando should have had 4 goals on the night.
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I get the mid-week schedule challenge, but with 3 games left, there’s no need to rotate! Danley was coming back from a minor injury and not quite up to 90 mins in FL conditioning. Mcglynn had zero interest in defending. Adeniran didn’t give a sh*t about chasing the game and trying to win the ball back. Gazdag played OK but was clearly tired by the 75th. Apple commentator even pointed it out… needed Raf, Bueno, Flach, Cavan, even Dono to chase the game. Curtin is just as responsible.
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It’s a year of transition. No the sky is not falling, but expecting anything exciting in the playoffs should not be an expectation with this group.
Against Atlanta in the first 60 minutes, the Union press was aggressive and frankly excellent. NONE OF THAT last night.
My problem is that I do not see this team playing with any sense of urgency. I can accept the results much better if I sensed their pride was on the line. I miss Jose Martinez–I do not think that he would find last night’s half-hearted effort acceptable.
This was a frustrating one to watch. I had to turn it off after the second ORL goal because my blood pressure was spiking with every bad pass.
If I had to watch Adeniran half-heartedly run after balls in the second half, I would be dead probably
So here goes: a Columbus loss AND FCM win/draw at Charlotte AND Toronto win v. Miami and the U are out.