Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
The first place Philadelphia Union traveled to TQL Stadium to face second place FC Cincinnati. The Boys in Blue were riding high off a 4-0 trouncing of the Chicago Fire at home last weekend, while Cincinnati was looking to rebound from a 1-nil home defeat to NYCFC.
The last time the Union travelled to Ohio they found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-nil game against Columbus. This match also ended 1-nil but the other way, as a 10-man Union hung on for gutsy road win. Bruno Damiani’s fifth goal of the season was all that was needed, though the Boys faced 30+ minutes down a man after Olwethu Makhanya was sent off for a second yellow. The win, along with a NYRB draw, saw the Union clinch a playoff spot with 5 games remaining. More importantly, it was another 3 points on the march towards the Supporters’ Shield.
How The Match Unfolded
Bradley Carnell was able to start a relatively unchanged lineup from the team that defeated Chicago, with the one change being Nate Harriel slotting in at right back in place of Frankie Westfield. Andrew Rick started again in place of the injured Andre Blake, while Kai Wagner, Olwethu Makhanya, and Jakob Glesnes joined Harriel on the back line. Danley Jean Jacques and Jovan Lukić played the midfield pivots, while Quinn Sullivan and Milan Iloski started as the attacking midfielders. In front of them were strikers Bruno Damiani and Tai Baribo.
First Half
The opening minutes were relatively fast-paced as both teams tried to put their respective stamps onto the match. Cincinnati put a free kick on frame which found an open Nick Haggland, but he slid into the ball and sent it wide where it was smothered by Rick. The 10th minute saw Sullivan take a shot that was deflected off the woodwork, causing some consternation to Roman Celentano. Cincinnati then marched down the field and send a cross tantalizing through the six-yard box but no Cincy player could get on to the end of it. At the other end a Baribo volley in the 12th minute went high over the bar.
Both teams had decent chances as the game settled into a back and forth. A Glesnes foul in the 15th minute led to another free kick required a diving reflex save from Rick to keep the game scoreless. The Union then immediately took the ball upfield only for Iloski to shot just wide. The Union won the first corner of the game in the 20th minute, which was delayed by antics in the box, leading to yellow cards for both Makhanya and Dominik Marczuk. A foul on Damiani in the 24th led to a free kick, but Cincinnati was able to deal with it easily enough.
Nice build up play from Danley led to Iloski winning a corner off a deflected shot in the 25th minute. Wagner’s corner was headed out for another corner, which Celentano was able to punch to safety. Baribo thought he had a goal in the 29th minute when he found himself on the end of a deflected Harriel cross, but he was unable to find the net as Celentano made himself big and Baribo shot wide.
The Union won another corner in the 31st as they continued to pressure Cincinnati in its defensive half. Unfortunately Wagner’s kick went harmlessly over the crossbar and the back of the goal. At the other end Cincinnati forced Rick into a great save in the 35th minute as a Kevin Denkey shot was slightly deflected and Rick had to get down quickly to palm it wide.
Cincinnati won a corner in the first minute of injury time when a great cross forced Makhanya to clear to the ball back and across the end line. The resulting corner was cleared nicely off the goal line by Harriel. A few moments later Glesnes left his feet and took Brenner da Silva down on a breakaway, earning a yellow. The home crowd clearly wanted a red but Referee Sergii Boiko was having none of it. The Union cleared the resulting free kick and raced down the field, forcing Celentano into a save as the half came to an end.
Second Half
Neither team made any changes at half and the Union started the stronger of the two teams. The Boys in Blue opened the scoring in the 49th minute with a terrific Bruno Damiani header off a cross from Iloski. Iloski found some space on the left of the goal and chipped a cross to Damiani who left his feat and found the far post. His first goal in seven games and fifth of the season gave the Union the lead.
A couple of minutes later Cincinnati started to settle into its game in the Union’s half, forcing Makhanya into a headed clearance. Down at the other end, another deflected Sullivan cross should have been headed into the net by Baribo, but good defending forced him to head wide.
Some nice dribbling by Evender in the Union box in the 58th minute was for naught, as he shot through the Union defense right into Rick. A few minutes later a rash and unnecessary challenge by Makhanya on Evender led to what could have been a catastrophic second yellow earned, as Makhanya was sent off in 60th minute.
Carnell immediately went to his bench, as Frankie Westfield entered for Sullivan and Indiana Vassilev on for Baribo. Harriel moved into a center back role while Westfield went to right back. After the sending off and the changes, the Union had the better chances as the Boys tried to keep the pressure on. Then it was Cincinnati’s turn to go to its bench to bring on Gerardo Valenzuela and Luca Orellano in the 65th minute.
Cincy won a corner in the 69th minute, which was taken short. The resulting deflected shot was easily gathered in by Rick. Cincinnati really should have equalized five minutes later when some nice passing found Brenner in on Rick at an angle, but the Brazilian curled his shot wide.
The Union kept pushing for a second as Uhre, who replaced Damiani for some fresh legs, tried to sneak a shot past Celentano, but was wide at the near post. At the other end, Miazga rose up to meet a header off a free kick, but it was gobbled up by Rick on the goal line. A shot from outside the 18-yard box by Evender went wide at the near post.
Substitute Ayoub Jabbari could not get on the end of a nice Evender cross sent through the 6-yard box in the 87th minute. Cincinnati’s last chance was a corner won in the third minute of injury time, but cleared easily enough. The Boys in Blue hung on for another two minutes to take all three points.
PSP’s 3 Points
- The Back Line: Rick had three big saves and earned his seventh (!!) clean sheet of the season. A large part of Rick’s success was also due to Nate Harriel having a massive game at center back for the final thirty minutes, along with Kai Wagner playing like a monster.
- Out of Position? Who Cares?: After Makhanya found himself heading to the locker room early, Harriel shifted into a center back role and was an absolute beast, heading clearances and just eating up space. Striker Iloski is now winger / midfielder Iloski? No big deal. Just earned his second assist in two games.
- A Statement Road Win: Sure, they already had six road wins. But they were against teams below the playoff line (Chicago, Toronto, Montreal) or were early in the season (Orlando). More recent were losses to playoff teams Columbus and Nashville (and one to the Pink Cows as well). The Boys in Blue made a statement that all of that is in the past with a 1-0 road win, down a man, against its closest competitor in the standings.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union (4-2-2-2):
Andrew Rick; Kai Wagner, Olwethu Makhanya, Jakob Glesnes, Nate Harriel; Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukić, Milan Iloski (Jeremy Rafanello 84’), Quinn Sullivan (Frankie Westfield 63’); Bruno Damiani (Mikael Uhre 74’), Tai Baribo (Indiana Vassilev 63’).
Substitutes not used: George Marks, Olivier Mbaizo, Alejandro Bedoya, Cavan Sullivan, Jesus Bueno.
FC Cincinnati (5-3-2):
Roman Celentano; Dominik Marczuk (Luca Orellano 65’), Nick Hagglund, Matt Miazga, Lukas Engel (Kei Kamara 89’), Ender Echenique (Ayoub Jabbari 74’); Pavel Bucha, Evander Ferreira, Brian Anunga (Gerardo Valenzuela 64’); Brenner da Silva, Kevin Denkey.
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Alvas Powell, Gilberto Flores, Teenage Hadebe, Stiven Jimenez.
Scoring Summary:
PHI: Bruno Damiani (Milan Iloski) 49’
Disciplinary Summary:
PHI: Olwethu Makhanya (yellow card) 21’
CIN: Dominik Marczuk (yellow card) 21’
PHI: Jakob Glesnes (yellow card) 45’ + 4’
PHI: Nate Harriel (yellow card) 50’
PHI: Olwethu Makhanya (second yellow / red) 59’
PHI: Frankie Westfield (yellow card) 85’
CIN: Kevin Denkey (yellow card) 90’ + 1’
“Rick Wall”
There is a good deal to say about that game and not all of it flattering—> the CB needs to be bold there and pound the space he created with the shoulder drop hesitation~ but punked out and made the dreaded last second side-back pass… i thought Vassilev was a train wreck tonight. I though Danley was mostly outstanding. I thought (as a buddy said) the goalkeeper may be national team quality sooner than later. I thought Evander wss going to score for sure. I thought Harriel was excellent. I thought Jim loses to Pat tonight. I think i thought Iloski and Quinn both missed clear opportunities to play their strikers in… multiple times and yes Milan had a lovely assist on a sterling header .
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I thought goddamn the ball is in the air too much. I thought goddamn that is an excellent 3 points and goddamn this team can win MLS Cup if things fall right and Gareth Bale remains retired.
Carry on.
I also was certain Evander would score. Harriel probably had his best performance of the season tonight.
FGB
A team to celebrate. This feels like a culture. Well done.
Playoff spot clinched with five games to go. So much to play for going forward. I must say I didn’t think they would walk with the win after the red. This was a big win against a very tough team. I don’t think many people in the beginning of the season thought this was a playoff team but Tanner added some good pieces and the kids have stepped up. It was a fun night. Doop
One could highlight every single Union player tonight! One of my two cents goes to Wagner, Harriel and Glesnes.
The other goes to Damiani. If you break it down, he shadowed his defender, holding back, then made a run to get in front, jumped, twisted right, arched and elevated, whipped his head as he leaned forward and badda bing badda boom. A moment of beauty.
And Rick
Didn’t mean to leave him out
I thought this team would struggle to make the playoffs, and I’m glad I was wrong. They can rotate the squad at Vancouver for the Open Cup semi and still pretty much control their own destiny for the Eastern Conference and the Shield.
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A big thing for me tonight was Union were able to win a match where Wagner didn’t do that much going forward. Even though only one goal, Carnell has to love the number of chances created off turnovers, especially from about fifteen minutes to the red card.
I think we can say with scientific certainty at this point what the cause of a two-year drop in form was in 2023-2024: the super lame tan/cammo/cloud road uniforms!!!! We got rid of those, returned to blue & yellow lightning and are back riding high!!!
Doop! My shoulders were definitely tense those last thirty minutes. What a relief.
The fact that it was Miazga who misplayed the ball out of the back and then got beaten to the spot for the goal is just the icing on the cake.
Then he turned around in search of someone to blame. What a big dumb baby.
The U forced him and Haggerlund into so many harried passes on the night. Just beautiful to watch.
Not their best stuff and yet… they found a way to win on the road against a great opponent in a high pressure match. That’s a learned skillset and one they’ll need to win silverware this year.
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I’d rotate the squad and play for the tie against Vancouver. Fresh legs for Nashville. LFGGGGGGGGGG.
Kudos to the surviving defense to hold with the man down. The goal-assist combo was tradecraft. The Union’s youth development of quality keepers paid off again.
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The win also put us 5 points ahead of second place Cincy and 7 over Charlotte and Nashville.
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We have more tough remaining season matches and the same with USOC on the road, but we’re in good position to secure a USOC trophy and/or top playoff seeding with a CCC spot for winning the East/SS. We qualified for Leagues Cup by clinching the playoffs if the format remains the same for 2026.
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The team clearly appears to believe in itself, and that’s paying off.
The interaction between the World Cup and the Leagues Cup remains to be announced, as far as I have noticed.
Lopezzzz raises the upcoming issue where reasonable minds will disagree. Namely, how should the Union approach the upcoming matches against Vancouver and Nashville?
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IMO, if we pull our punches with Vancouver hoping for a road draw, then we’ll likely lose. They’re 3rd in the West at 51 points and 4 points behind 1st. They’re at home, and we’re crossing the coast. Losing to Vancouver also gives Cincy and others chances to overtake us in the East.
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Cincy (2nd East with 53 points) plays Nashville (4th East with 50 points) at home while we play Vancouver. Nashville also has a tough call to make, but very well may decide that the factors and odds favor pulling their punches for the Cincy away match in favor of the seminal match. Their hitch there will be essentially conceding they won’t win the East, but still have a solid chance of finishing high enough for decent playoff seeding.
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If we lose to Vancouver and Cincy wins, then Cincy are back within one win of overtaking us. Resting and overuse of bench players can also hurt starting team tempo, sharpness and chemistry. Last thing we need are injuries though.
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A rested Nashville playing a semi at home versus a tired and travel worn Union obviously favors Nashville.
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That said, winning the semi doesn’t mean anything unless we also win the final on the road. That’s unless Minnesota (2nd in West at 51 points only 2 behind SD) also wins the West/SS. If that happens, then we’ll at least get the USOC CCC spot by default. There’s realistic odds that may happen.
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If Austin wins both the USOC and MLS Cup, then that will also give us the USOC CCC spot by default if we lose the USOC final, but those odds are extremely low.
. . .
USOC offers the shortest route to our first championship and a CCC spot, but MLS Cup is the clear king of championship trophies for MLS teams that also comes with a CCC spot with a first round bye. We have a team that can do it despite the long odds for any playoff team, but those odds increase with top seeding.
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Anyway, what decision do you all think the team should make regarding the situation?
I think the Union have enough of a rotation to try to win both. Will be thin at CB for the Vancouver game, obviously. Don’t pull punches against Vancouver. Play like they did against Cincinnati. Then rotate, but play a strong-ish team against Nashville.
Cindy spent 41 million dollars in transfer fees for its attacking trio.
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Philly s attacking quartet cost somewhat less that a quarter of that.
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And the 41 million dollar boys left a huge gap between themselves and their mids and defenders art the beginning of the second Hhalf. Philly had all kinds of space in which to play for the firsy 15 minutes of the second half.
This was mentally tough. Been a great unexpected season but this was the first game where they showed championship quality.