Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union suffered a disappointing home defeat to rivals NYCFC during Sunday Night Soccer. Philadelphia conceded a stoppage time goal – after Olwethu Makhanya received a second yellow – which proved to be the decisive tally. The Union have now opened an MLS season with back-to-back losses for the first time since 2019. Let’s get into the ratings.
Player Ratings:
Andre Blake – 9
The Jamaican net-minder kept the Union in this one. He made 8 saves, continually bailing out defensive miscues and poor turnovers.
Nathan Harriel – 6
Defensively sound – even playing out of position for the first 60 minutes. Involved going forward, but his left foot let him down too many times on the attack. The Union’s best chances kept falling to him, and unfortunately he was unable to convert.
Olwethu Makhanya – 3
Was playing fine, but a poor reaction to an obvious refereeing decision put him in a position to be sent off, setting up the Union’s eventual loss. Needs to keep his head on going forward, since he’s one of the team’s best players when he’s focused.
Japhet Sery – 5
Not bad, but not great either. Some solid defensive plays, and some shaky moments. Willing to get forward. Still need to see more of what he can offer on the ball.
Frankie Westfield – 4
Unable to positively affect the game the way he usually does in attack. Seemingly picked up a knock and was taken off to avoid another injury.
Danley Jean-Jacuqes – 7
Remains a key player for the Union. His ground covered, both defensively and on the counter-press is impressive. Played a number of important passes, particularly in City’s third. Should have done better with his shot in the 16th minute.
Jovan Lukić – 7
The Serbian’s return to the midfield gave the Union a needed boost. Lukić was involved in some of the Union’s best attacking chances, and probably should have won a penalty in the 66th minute.
Agustin Anello – 3
Mixed bag from one of the Union’s newer signings. Some good involvements, but also several turnovers. His lone shot was one of the few on target for the Union, but it didn’t trouble Matt Freese in the NYCFC net. What was the point of starting him at the 10 and Iloski at forward, just to switch after 30 minutes?
Indiana Vassilev – 7
On the one hand, Vassilev was one of the Union’s best players on the night. On the other, he has severe shortcomings as one of the team’s primary creative outlets – a role Carnell seems determined to play him in. His decision making, and tendency to dawdle on the ball, killed a lot of the Union’s best attacks.
Bruno Damiani – 2
Woof. That was a near anonymous performance from Philly’s Young DP. Yes, he still wins fouls. Yes, his defensive work-rate is still high. But, he struggled to remain involved without service, and his play on the ball left a lot to be desired.
Milan Iloski – 5
After an uncharacteristically sloppy start to the game, he became more involved as the match wore on, especially with the first wave of subs. Seems like he still works best in the Union’s system as one of the attacking midfielders.
Substitutes:
Ben Bender – 6
Playing out of position at left back, Bender helped give the Union an attacking boost, combining well with Iloski and Korzeniowski. Unfortunately beaten at the back post by Tayvon Gray for the City winner.
Stas Korzeniowski– 7
His introduction changed the flow of the game. Held up play well, came inches away from a goal, and won a penalty. The Union’s best forward on the night.
Cavan Sullivan – 5
Had a handful of good attacking moves and combinations, especially with the other Union II graduates. Carnell needs to start him.
Sal Olivas – 5
Showed some flashes in limited minutes.
Geiner Martinez – N/a
Late defensive change necessitated by the red card.
Geiger Counter:
Chris Penso – 4
Think he got both of the Union’s potential penalties wrong: the first one should have been given, the second one should not have. Those were the two biggest decisions in the game, but other than that there wasn’t much to complain about. Unfortunately, Makhanya’s second yellow was a clear moment of dissent.
Player of the Match: Tayvon Gray
Cleared Nathan Harriel’s shot off the line and scored a 90 + 9’ winner in a rivalry match. That’ll do it.
What’s Next
The Union will look to regroup next Saturday, March 7th against a San Jose side boasting Timo Werner and a 2-0-0 record. Kick-off is slated for 7:30 PM at Subaru Park.
Fair ratings, missing the key review.
Coach Carnell – 3
Starting line up for Home Opening Night questionable as the drummer, and just odd, out of sorts, to say the least. Young’uns deserve to start after this embarrassment, with tempers and verbal outbursts controlled vs San Jose we hope.
As far as Penso…. Ultimately lost control of a tight rivalry, created terrible field presence. Not like it’s the first time we’ve seen his sh*t, sadly.
Good ratings, I think you nailed it
Penso is a zero, especially when the Union play. The best referees (which Penso is not) would have summoned Makhanya over to have a private chat with him both to calm him down and to warn him. A yellow card for an expression of disgust 50 yards away is frankly ridiculous.
He also completely mishandled 2 potential head injuries by not stopping play immediately. And in the Union’s favor there should have been at least 2 yellows given for stopping a promising attack (or attempting to but advantage was called on the second) that he failed to show Union players.
Too many 6’s and 7’s for the end result. Players may be playing well individually but if they are not working well with the rest of the team, it doesn’t do much good. And this team was not playing well together.
.
As I’ve said elsewhere, I had major issues with the job Penso did. And it wasn’t specifically rated to the Union. He just didn’t do his job as expected.
I agree about where Iloski and Anello were lining up. It didn’t make sense. With Alladoh back for next game, I’d pair him with Damiani, and then Iloski and Cavan as creative mids behind them. Vassilev is a great worker and linking player, but would be a good super sub.
City is going to look at how Cavan is being used and the lack of development this system leads to and move him to one of their European farm teams before he turns 18.
Could they move him to NYCFC?
That would suck…..
Chris Penso sucks. His wife Tori especially sucks. Still, the current Union sucks and that’s on Slumlord Sugarman whose sabotage sucks more than anything. So has the weather, insipid merch, concession prices, etc. We might as well bring golf balls and garden hoses to the matches given things suck so much right now, but it’s kinda expected given the backward direction Sugarman always takes when the team shows promise and needs a boost over the edge to glory.
. . .
nagjs1 raises a big concern of mine too. MC has good reason to relocate Cavan ASAP so his growth isn’t stunted here. If I were Cavan, I’d want that move too. That’ll be good for them, but once again, suck for us.
My understanding of the Union system is that they want to force turnovers up field and then quickly transition into a dangerous attack. If that is right, I would not rate 3 of the 4 Union midfielders as 7s. Their ball speed in possession was far far too slow.
Red Bull Philadelphia