Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union
In a rare Sunday afternoon matchup, the Philadelphia Union faced Nashville SC at Subaru Park. The Union’s playstyle was figured out, and two controversial VAR decisions took one penalty from the Union and gave another to Nashville. Former Union and US Men’s National Team assistant coach BJ Callaghan led his Nashville side to a 3-1 victory at Subaru Park.
Bradley Carnell fielded an identical starting lineup to the Union’s previous matches this season. It is the first time since 2022 that the club has put out the same lineup four consecutive times. This means another short-term loan for off-roster homegrown Frankie Westfield. The team has used four of his six allotted call-ups before they must move him to a supplemental roster spot.
A notable change on the bench was goalkeeper Oliver Semmle in over Andrew Rick. Rick has been the first-choice keeper for Union II for more than a year, so he was likely given the night off to rest before the second team’s match against New York Red Bulls II on Monday evening. Ian Glavinovich was also absent, as he is still working his way back from a hamstring injury.
First Half
The match began with some very physical play between both sides, and both teams drew a couple of fouls. Through the first ten minutes, the Union were able to get into Nashville’s box, but could not put it past goalkeeper Joesph Willis. Nashville had its share of attacking chances as well, but they failed to penetrate past the Union’s defensive line. Nashville had two goals in three matches before this match and had an urgency to open the scoring.
Attacker Sam Surridge did just that in the fifteenth minute after dribbling through Frankie Westfield and Jakob Glesnes inside the Union’s box. Westfield appeared to slip on the turf after tracking back to stop Surrdige, and Glesnes was early on his attempt to block the impending shot.
The Union countered quickly after the restart, but Quinn Sullivan was brought down for the second time without a foul called by referee Pierre-Luc Laauziere. Just minutes later, Surridge found himself with the ball inside the Union’s six again, but this time, Olwethu Makhanya was able to make a sliding challenge to stop him.
The defensive line moved high during the Union’s time in possession, leaving Surridge with an easy one-on-one footrace with Makhanya. The South African got beat, but the Englishman’s shot hit the post after Andre Blake came off his line, deflected around in the six-yard box, and was ultimately cleared for a corner by Kai Wagner.
The Union brought themselves back into the game in spectacular fashion, with another incredible long-range shot by Jovan Lukic after the ball was cleared by Nashville on a Union corner. The Serbian is fitting in just fine with his new club, and he looked confident on and off the ball.
Just before stoppage time, Nashville’s Ahmed Qasem beat Jakob Glesnes en route to a long ball, and calmly slotted it to Blake’s back post. Again, the line had been moved up to press Nashville in their half, and Glesnes was not fast enough.
Second Half
Philadelphia controlled possession coming out of the locker room as they sought to find an equalizer. Chances came, but they did not capitalize when they needed to.
In the 60th minute, Quinn Sullivan was brought down in the box while attempting to cross to Uhre in the center. The call on the field was a goal kick, but after going to the monitor for a lengthy review, the referee did not change his decision. Play continued without notable opportunities for either side, but remained to be very physical. Kai Wagner was on the receiving end of two hard challenges. The first had him wincing on his ankle, and the second required him to seek attention for his right knee. He was able to return to the pitch.
Jakob Gleses was involved in a head-to-head collision with Hany Mukhtar in the 77th minute, and VAR decided to give a penalty to Nashville while both players were still receiving treatment. Hany Mukhtar returned to the pitch to convert the penalty. He almost got another goal after the restart after catching the Union defense asleep and pulling Andre Blake off of his line.
The Union finished the match visibly frustrated eleven minutes of stoppage. In the ninth minute of those eleven, substitute Chris Donovan was brought down inside the box, and the Union were finally gifted their penalty. Usual penalty taker Daniel Gazdag had been subbed off already, so Quinn Sullivan was allowed to step up to the spot. His penalty was saved by Joseph Willis, as was the subsequent rebound.
And as if the saved penalty was not enough salt in the wound, center-back Olwethu Makhanya received a red card for throwing the ball at the face of an opponent after being knocked out of bounds. The lashing out was reminiscent of what got him sent off in the MLS Next PRO final against North Texas last November.
Three Points:
- Tai Baribo shut down: Nashville’s captain, Walker Zimmerman, was within touching distance of Tai Baribo on almost every one of the Union’s attacking possessions. Baribo was unable to get on the end of set pieces and crosses and was rarely open to receive the ball on the ground.
- Defending mishaps: The Union’s back line spent their time out of possession pressing high up the field and were often drawn out of position by Nashville’s attacking midfielders. Makhanya’s pace saved them once, but both Nashville goals were scored on occasions where a defender was not quick enough to track back. Although it did not cause any issues, the Union’s defensive clearances, especially headers, tended to go towards the touchlines as opposed to up the field. These clearances were more often than not recovered by Nashville, who were able to continue possession.
- Jovan Lukic: Despite the result, Lukic had another decent match with his new club. He commanded the Union midfield alongside Danley Jean-Jacques and looked confident on both sides of the ball. If there is one positive to take out of the loss, it is Lukic’s ability to fit in with his new squad.
Lineups
Philadelphia
Andre Blake, Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner, Olwethu Makhanya, Frankie Westfield (Nathan Harriel– 65”), Jovan Lukic, Daniel Gazdag (Alejandro Bedoya– 84”) , Danley Jean Jacques (Indiana Vassilev– 73”), Mikeal Uhre (Bruno Damiani– 65”), Tai Baribo (Chris Donovan– 84” )
Unused subs: Oliver Semmle, Cavan Sullivan, Jesus Bueno, Olivier Mbaizo
Opponent
Joseph Willis, Daniel Lovitz, Jack Maher, Walker Zimmerman, Andy Najar (Joshua Bauer– 84”), Patrick Yazbek (Gaston Brugman– 84”), Hany Mukhtar (Teal Bunbury– 90+”), Alexandre Muyl, Edvard Sandvik Tagseth, Ahmed Qasem (Jacob Shaffleburg– 73”), Sam Surridge
Unused Subs: Jeisson Palacios, Matthew Corcoran, Taylor Washington, Jonathan Perez, Brian Schwake
Scoring Summary:
NSH: Surridge– 15”
PHI: Lukic– 33”
NSH: Qasem– 44”
NSH: Mukhtar– 83”
Discipline Summary:
NSH: Yazbek– 45+”
NSH: Tagseth– 87”
PHI: Wagner– 88”
PHI: Damiani– 90+”
PHI: Makhanya– 90+” (RED CARD)
Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere
At least it didn’t rain.
that’s what I told me wife as we left
Weird frustrating match. Beating the crap our of Union players seems to be an effective strategy.
Yes. Frustrating was the word I would use to describe this game. The Union just were not able to connect forward passes for meaningful attacks. Good on Nashville for mucking it up, but it was hard to watch.
Send that ref packing !
Burn the tape and move on to the next game.
Great day for afternoon soccer!
The Correction.
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To be expected. These men are not The Invincibles.
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Worst I’ve seen Glesnes play in quite awhile. Lukic is very good. At this point Frankie over Nathaniel every time.
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Lastly… I always say never blame the ref… but that was some bush league referring. Just terrible. Wuinn stops the ball with the bottom of his foot PURPOSELY to send the player and he sends the player who tackles him completely… no foul.
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Glesnes goes borderline 50-50 on a header. PK.
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What the hell is the point of VAR if it’s still just subjective?
It is hard to reinforce that players, coaches, and spectators shouldn’t tell at the referees, and I do try to live that, but this game was hard. This referee lost control and made some calls I don’t understand and cannot defend.
HAIR ON FIRE ! Jesse Ball…..Marche tried a very similar style Red Bulls style strategy at Leeds United when he briefly coached there. They had some very short early success. Teams quickly figured them out. Half way past mid season Leeds fired him and changed their style.. I am all for a mostly fast paced mostly forward game but there has has to better possession and discipline at the back when the attack is developing . Everyone was rushing too far forward even when they barely had possession. When the lone defender makes a bad rushed decisions in the back and sends a pass to “nobody in particular”
bad things happen. Even the magical Blake cant stop that. Jacob does not have great recovery speed or great first touch . He Frankie and Mc Kahnya got caught off gaurd several times. The result was 2 easy goals and a PK goal There is a time and place in the game to play that style but not for 90 ninety minutes.
I used to call it “getting MLS’d”. I coined that term in the 2010’s when it seemed every fourth game, the ref would lose it for you. Less common the last few years, but MAN did it happen yesterday. What trash reffing.
The Unions Play Today Reminded of a Parks and Rec Soccer game of my childrens youth. Chaotic Play, Overly aggressive press sloppy play at the back. Passes without purpose. It was ugly and more important ineffective. They were lucky not to lose by more. I do agree the officiating was bad. The ref never got control of the game.
Where was the fun?!?!
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The previous three games, the boys looked like they were enjoying playing. It says something that the first game where Quinn is largely smothered, the Union looks like they’re going for some terrible medical procedure.
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They needed to find a way to just play even when Nashville was making it ugly. A dribble, a line splitting pass, some combination of passes. Something. They seemed to run out of ideas.
Ugly, defence again just kaotic.
The one thing that changed the match for me? Having a freshly made Primo Italian Hoagie and a coke! Great addition… smile on my face, despite the outcome!
I can concede that Nashville was probably the better team on the day, but the officiating was a disaster. I can’t for the life of me understand what the decision making process was to not call a pen when Lovitz went through Sullivan and then go and turn around on a a 50-50 header and call that a pen.
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Like what I’m seeing from Lukic. Sullivan, too. Hope we can press on through the international break.
Maybe it was the satisfied stomach… but the ref was NOT the cause of our loss. Sorry guys.
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Nashville played physical… literally knocked us off our 1st 3 games performance from the start. Baribo and Urhe disappeared, defence played kaotic and Blake could not do everything!
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Sure that ref was total bush league, not ready for even USL1, but Nashville came out pressing, menacing, nasty… and showed the rest of the league how to beat us, even at home.
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The key will be Sat against his old squad. Jury still out, despite the nice 3 game start.
Can’t use Saturday as the jury since half the team won’t be there.
Refs CAN and DO lose (and win) games in this league, or any league. I reject the ‘ref didn’t do it’ mentality. Yes, teams need to be above it, I get that. “play well enough and it doesn’t matter”…Yes, okAAY. Teams are so close to each other that any little advantage given (or recevied) makes a difference. it just does.
But don’t try to tell me that the clear penalty not given, (would’ve made the game 2-2) doesn’t change the game. when its 2-2 its a totally different game. Quinn was clearly pulling the ball back to make the dude miss. What more can he do?
And glesnes’ PK? C’mon man….are you serious? EVEN after a long VAR review? That was just a 50-50…muktar was doing nothing with that ball except what he DID do with it…head it on. What a bush league call.
Tough game to watch.
Disclosure – I stopped watching after the “penalty” called on Glesnes.
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Are we sure that Neil Pierre is really worse than Glesnes? Awful doesn’t even begin to describe how he played.
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Andre – not so good. Does he ever practice controlling the ball with his feet?
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VAR – as it often happens, did not work. Why is the official reviewing his own decision in a loud stadium with a tiny monitor? These decisions should be made in a central review location. If the refs don’t like that, FIRE them.
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They were not going to win 34 straight. Overall, a very good way to start the season. Move on.
The ref was godawful, but we were also the lesser team and deserved our loss. Both things can be true.
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Meanwhile Glesnes was absolutely god-awful. He is partly responsible for goal #1 (along with Westfield), fully responsible for goal #2, and though the penalty call was bullish**, he did whiff at the ball and whack Mukhtar in the head. He truly looked like 2024 Glesnes, which we cannot afford. He did not look like that in our first 3 matches so I hope this was just a one-off. Especially since Makhanya is now suspended for our next match…
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On the offensive end it was way too much crossing, and no clever passing. I give Nashville credit, as they are a very stout defensive team, and Zimmerman kept Baribo in his pocket the entire match. But I didn’t see Gazdag and Sullivan really trying things either. I wonder if the creativity of the other Sullivan might possibly have helped.
Took three matches for clubs to figure out what to do when Glesnes presses to midfield and beyond. Expect to see opponents do this going forward, up to Carnell to adjust.
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There are zero creative players on the roster, and this is a feature not a bug of what Tanner wants. The only creative player Union had is in Houston. He didn’t have a place in this system because he can’t defend, but he was the only one who could break down a defense. If your coach’s goal philosophy is 60/30/10 where the 10 is possession, you better be on top of the press every match.
Great match report! Nashville SC put on a solid performance, and their attacking strategy really paid off. Philadelphia Union had some good moments, but it seemed like they struggled to capitalize on key opportunities. Looking forward to seeing how both teams adjust in their next matches