Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications
The Philadelphia Union took on Atlanta United FC at Subaru Park Saturday evening, hoping to end their five-game winless streak. Goals from Quinn Sullivan, Danley Jean Jacques, and Tai Baribo saw the Union back in the win column despite a red card to Jovan Lukic putting them down a man in the second half.
After missing the Union’s previous match against New York City FC, Andre Blake surprisingly returned to the starting lineup despite being listed as “questionable” on the league’s Player Status Report. He did train in the days leading up to the match, but all signs pointed to another start for homegrown Andrew Rick until the lineup dropped. Oliver Semmle’s presence on the gameday roster supports this theory. Blake came up big to keep the clean sheet.
First half
Referee Allen Chapman awarded two free kicks to Atlanta in the first four minutes of the match, both of which came on weak fouls as a result of the Union’s signature press. Atlanta’s Emmanuel Latte Lath was the target of the second, on which, he very nearly missed getting a head onto within the Union’s six-yard box. A few subjectively worse challenges on Union players just minutes later went uncalled, and this trend continued throughout the match. That pressure from Atlanta saw Jakob Glesnes earn a yellow card twenty minutes into the match.
The Union had trouble keeping Atlanta at bay in the early minutes of the match, but the home team’s first real chance came after catching Atlanta’s defense on the break. A long ball to Bruno Damiani found Mikeal Uhre, who dribbled it into the box. Indiana Vassilev had some excellent holdup play to get it back to Uhre, who then put the ball wide to the right of the net.
Quinn Sullivan scored his first goal of the season to send the Union ahead on a right-volley that weaved through the wall of men crowding in front of Brad Guzan’s net to catch him completely off guard at his back post. The goal energized the Union and made them much more confident in the attacking half, and they looked to be the better team from that point on.
Atlanta was forced to make two substitutions in the first half due to a head injury for centerback Stian Gregerson and what looked like a groin injury for midfielder Tristan Muyumba.
Second half
The Union came out after the break looking to increase the lead, and did just that off a low, confidently placed shot from Danley Jean Jacques, his first goal in a Union shirt. Mikeal Uhre got the assist with a well-placed through ball.
Minutes later, Jovan Lukic stood in the way of an Atlanta free kick and saw his second yellow. Moments after that, Danley got a yellow, and Atlanta was awarded a free kick just outside of the box. They were unable to find the target from the dead ball. Olwethu Makhanya came on for Uhre after the ejection, and the Union switched to a five-man defensive line to protect the lead.
Atlanta’s Noah Cobb had a hard collision with Bruno Damiani in the Atlanta box, and Chapman let play continue for the entire subsequent Atlanta breakaway until the ball was back to Quinn Sullivan’s feet. Cobb ended up needing to leave the match, using Atlanta’s third and final substitution window in just the 66th minute. These injuries kept them from making tactical substitutions to adjust to the Union’s.
Play became very physical from there, with multiple fouls coming from both teams. The Union sat back and defended a lot more with the man disadvantage, allowing the visitors some better attacking chances. The vast majority of those chances either missed the net entirely or were shot directly at Andre Blake. The Jamaican performed some heroics to hold onto the clean sheet with a backwards diving save to paw out a header from Atlanta’s Alexey Miranchuk.
Out of nowhere, Tai Baribo increased his golden boot lead after Quinn Sullivan stopped the ball on the far sideline and crossed it back into the box for the Israeli to head it in.
Three points:
- Lineup rotation: Aside from Andre Blake’s start, it’s also worth mentioning that Nathan Harriel started at centerback over Olwethu Makhanya and Neil Pierre (who burned a short-term callup to be on the bench), and Tai Baribo sat for Mikeal Uhre and Bruno Damiani at striker. The Union were likely anticipating the height and physicality of the Atlanta side against them and chose to opt for an equally physical approach to start the match.
- Jovan Lukic: Before his ejection, Lukic had an incredible match defensively. He made multiple recoveries to break up Atlanta attacks and involve himself in the Union’s buildup play. His second yellow was much like Makhanya’s ejection earlier in the season, a frustrated player having a lapse in judgment in the moment.
- With 10 men: For the first time in recent memory, the Union held onto a lead and won a match while down a man. Bradley Carnell’s tactical adjustments to add an extra center back and play somewhat of a 5-3-1 formation were enough to keep Atlanta at bay. Andre Blake’s presence in the net made the win much more confident.
Lineups
Philadelphia
Andre Blake, Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner, Nathan Harriel, Frankie Westfield, Jovan Lukic, Indiana Vassilev (Jeremy Rafanello–84’) , Danley Jean Jacques, Quinn Sullivan (Alejandro Bedoya–84’) , Mikeal Uhre (Olwethu Makhanya– 62’), Bruno Damiami (Tai Baribo– 74’)
Unused subs: Andrew Rick, Oliver Semmle, Cavan Sullivan, Chris Donovan, Neil Pierre
Atlanta
Brad Guzan, Stian Gregerson (Luis Abram– 31’), Brooks Lennon, Pedro Amador, Noah Cobb (Jamal Thiare– 66’), Tristan Muyumba (Mateusz Klich– 34’), Miguel Almiron, Jay Fortune (Saba Lobjanidze– 66’), Bartosz Slisz, Latte Lath, Alexey Miranchuk
Unused Subs: Josh Cohen, Ronald Hernandez, Luke Brennan, Will Reilly, Matthew Edwards
Scoring Summary:
PHI: Q. Sullivan– 27’
PHI: Jean Jacques– 51’
PHI: Baribo — 84’
Discipline Summary:
PHI: Glesnes– 19’
PHI: Lukic– 45+’
PHI: Lukic– 56’ (Second caution)
PHI: Jean Jacques– 57’
ATL: Amador– 68’
Referee: Allen Chapman
Closed out with 10. That is so not Union. Good on Carnell
Nicely done!
That was an oddly tense and frustrating 3-goal win. It just felt like ATL was on the verge of breaking through, or a full-on brawl was about to start.
The second Lukic yellow was deserved, and a smart play from ATL to kick it into him. It was frustrating as a fan, but a heads-up play.
It feels like Quinn is coming into star-making territory (by MLS standards). That development would be huge for this team.
I agree with Quinn but I’ve noticed after a dominant game like this, he has a tendency to disappear in the next game. Of course that part of the process and he needs to learn how to keep this level for every game because he was special in this one. Although the goal was big, what stood out for me was the last twenty minutes of the game as his motor never stops on defense and then in the final six or the ninety running down a ball before it goes out and delivering a perfect pass to Baribo to ice the game.
Here is the view from Section 105:
1) After failing to score in the last two matches, the Union put together a fine offensive performance. They created lots of chances and finally, Quinn Sullivan buried a volley from distance. The goal came after an extended series of headers inside the Atlanta box—it seemed more like pinball than soccer.
2) Both of my grandsons attended this match; it was the younger one’s tenth birthday. He did the Philly doubleheader with the Phillies in the afternoon and the Union in the evening, which matched the two sports both he and his older cousin are playing. They thought that they brought the Union luck, and maybe they did.
3) Nathan Harriel played very effectively at center back, and his pace makes up for Jakob Glesnes’ deficiency in that area—the two combined effectively in the middle to limit Atlanta’s offensive chances, especially when the Union were a man down.
4) I am not a fan of the defensive dark arts of jersey grabbing, arm and shoulder pulling, bearhugs and pushing. When such are not called, or in this game in the early part of the first half, were called against the Union but not Atlanta, frustration builds. That is what led to Lukic’ first yellow card for kicking the ball away after he was tugged, lost the ball, and then was called for a foul trying to win it back. Atlanta did well in the second half to kick the ball into Lukic after the award of an Atlanta free kick and get a second yellow to go up a man.
5) After the Union went down a man and after Tai Baribo replaced Bruno Damiani, the Union had a counterattack. MOTM Quinn Sullivan ran down an overhit cross at the far sideline, then he served a beauty to the head of Tai Baribo that put the Union up 3-0 with 6 minutes to go in regulation time. I cannot remember the Union scoring a goal shorthanded in a home match that I attended, and this was a very pleasant surprise.
6) Andre Blake, as is his custom when he plays, made two outstanding saves to preserve the clean sheet.
7) One of my life’s maxims is to never use the superlative when describing a bad thing (e.g., the worst refereeing decision I have ever seen), but Allen Chapman’s stopping play when the Union were about to break-away to attend to an Atlanta player’s non-head injury in the Atlanta box certainly is a contender for screw up of the year. I was told that the chant of “Ref, you suck!” was audible on the Apple TV broadcast—it was well-deserved.
Chapman sucked. We didn’t. The only critique for me was the aforementioned pinball in Atlanta’s box, but they had the size and height advantage. You can’t coach away being shorter, and many of our guys are younger. They’ll hit their full maturity muscle and beef phase in due course. Uhre should have finished that one strike on the pinball.
. . .
Sullivan was clutch tonight. Even his crosses were solid.
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Like narbritch above, I had kin in town from England including their early primary school sons. It was their young kids’ first pro match ever, there or here, where they’re now following football and just old enough to appreciate it.
. . .
Let’s say it left an exceptional first impression on them. The tailgating, family-friendly prematch activities, amthem presentation with fireworks, big ships on the river, the halftime kids’ matches on the pitch, watching the SOBs and other active fans, the mascots, and a 3 nil win. We put on a good show on and off the pitch.
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People remember their firsts for life, and they left dressed in lots of merch happy as clams. It helps build fans outside our area.
Quinn, Danley and Uhre had excellent performances. The whole team played hard. Well done!
Imagine if Uhre can start putting away his chances. He could scare a lot of people if he can start scoring.
That’s a big IF!
Agreed. But he does so much off the ball in buildup which compliments the striker partnership. He brings something else to the field.
I totally agree. I meant it seriously about adding the goal scoring. The rest of his game is great. The hustle, physicality, pressuring, etc. If he also throws in 10 goals, we will have a much different overall view of him.
I was at the game, Quinn was out of position the entire match but made it work. The ref was horrible. You cannot call an injury time out as soon as Quinn starts a counter, and not do it when Atlanta is just passing it around the middle
Chapman halted play as possession was changing from Atlanta to the Union–awful.
Sullivan was not out of position. Get a clue.
+1
Chapstick only chaps my ass. Bum. Agenda merchant.
33-good. 21-better .
Blake didn’t have to do much, so to make that save without real work before is impressive.
Good to see Tai-Bo back on the stat sheet.
Was also at the game and enjoyed it! Beautiful night and great game.
Chapman was absolutely horrible though – full on Geiger!
In 30 years of watching soccer I’ve never seen a 2nd yellow be given for a player preventing a quick restart when that player does not actually touch the ball. I get it if he kicked it away, but he didn’t. He just stood there.
Can someone explain to me why he can’t stand there and make the ref count off ten yards? It seems like a rule that is enforced very differently in different games by different refs.
And even if it is technically a yellow, conventional practice is that a player typically only gets a second yellow if calling the foul is blatantly obvious and unavoidable. Not sure if that rises to the standard.
I am not Chap-fan by any measure, and you are correct that this rule is rarely enforced. But it needs to be enforced. Well-coached teams sometimes want to quickly restart, and they should be able to move the ball forward without an opposing player intentionally blocking the restart as Lukic did–he was directly facing the Atlanta player playing the ball from 1 yard away.