Photo: Kyle Grantham
Club América took the lead in the 20th minute when Raphael Veiga scored the lone goal of the match. Philadelphia pushed for an equalizer throughout the match, out shooting Club América 12-7, but were unable to find the back of the net. The Philadelphia Union can take some positives from this performance, if not a win, and build on it for their next game against Atlanta on Saturday. Here are the ratings.
Player Ratings:
GK Andrew Rick – 7
It was a well worked goal, and not much to do otherwise.
RB Nathan Harriel – 7
Got the start again at right back and worked well with Cavan Sullivan in the first half. His long balls in the second half lacked the precision we’ve come to expect.
CB Geiner Martínez 6
Made a good showing overall, but seemed to get caught out on the first goal.
CB Olwethu Makhanya 6
Solid performance overall but still maturing. Picked up a yellow just before the half for what looked like a frustration foul after he lost the ball past midfield. Got roasted on a backheel nutmeg by Salas that could have led to a goal. Fortunately, Bueno’s quick intervention meant that it was a tame shot that Rick handled easily.
LB Philippe Ndinga – 7
Ndinga’s debut. He went 80 minutes on the field before being replaced by Larsen. He was quick and his positioning was sound. His forays into the attacking third were tantalizing, and may be the missing piece that will allow the Union to balance their attack.
AM Agustín Anello – 5.5
Replaced by Vassilev for the final third of the game, Anello is still learning to read his teammates and sometimes seems to be reading from the wrong script. Received a caution for a high boot in the box.
DM Jesús Bueno – 7
Solid, mature performance, Bueno did great work to slow down and stop América’s play through the middle. His recovery after Makhanya’s nutmeg may very well have spared the Union a second away goal. He also stayed out of the referee’s book.
DM Jovan Lukic – 6.5
Still seems to be shaking off some rust. His speed of play and decision-making–particularly his passing–seems a little slow.
AM Cavan Sullivan – 8
Sullivan is the patron saint of hopeless balls and something out of nothing. His ball flip in the 35th minute was a delight. His slalom run and then pass to Alladoh in the box in the late minutes of the first half could have sent the hosts into halftime with a tie.
FWD Ezekiel Alladoh- 6
His turn and quick shot (over the bar) after a pass from Cavan Sullivan was his best look of the evening before being replaced for the second half by Damiani.
FWD Milan Iloski – 7
A good game overall, with some excellent pressure and at least one big turnover in the attacking third. He and Lukic need a better chemistry.
Substitutes:
(45′) Frankie Westfield – 7
He’s still one the few sparks for the Union going forward, but is at times over-aggressive, with a tendency to over-pursue in defense and take himself out of play.
(45′) Bruno Damiani – 6
While his pressing and running off the ball is good, he continues to be wasteful in front of goal. At times, he seems unsure of his positioning when the Union are in attack.
(63′) Danley Jean Jacques – 7
Brought some solidity to the midfield and allowed Iloski to stay higher up the pitch. He probably should have taken the shot that Vassilev sent wide in the late stages of the game.
(63′) Indiana Vassilev – 6
He remains the dynamo of the team, but two misses in the second half wasted good build up production and interplay.
(81′) Japhet Sery Larsen – 7
Came on for the final ten minutes and mostly held his own
Substitutes not used: Andre Blake, George Marks, Alejandro Bedoya, Ben Bender, Jeremy Rafanello, Malik Jakupovic, Stas Korzaniowski.
Geiger Counter
Ref: Keylor Herrera – 6
Not afraid to show yellow cards (to Philadelphia), but nevertheless let some early fouls go.
Player of the Match: Raphael Veiga,
Scored the lone goal of the match. U.S. National Team player Alex Zendejas created a dangerous chance almost immediately thereafter, but it was wide of the post.
What’s Next
The Union will have to take the positives from this game and apply them quickly before they travel to Atlanta on Saturday, March 14 at 3:15p.m.
idk, I feel like when you lose the match, the players shouldn’t be all rated higher than a 5.
If we exclude the Trini pub team matches, the offense hasn’t scored a single goal from the run of play in the four matches to date. No goals is obviously mission failure by the offense.
…and never mind David Vazquez had a brace against Toluca last night for San Diego. Luckily Union have been receiving stellar play there.
If your David Vasquez and you came up in an environment that treats the ball like a bomb set to detonate.. or a hot potato which ever image you prefer, and suddenly find yourself in an environment which considers the ball a tool to protect.
Man you have hit the LOTTERY.
The team loses at home to a team that really wasn’t any better than they were except at being able to finish and everyone receives an above average rating??????
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Now part of that is clearly due to this Union team being less than the sum of its parts. But looking at Saturday’s ratings and these combined indicates that the PSP staff NEEDS to be harsher to the players. When the team plays poorly the players should be rated lower.
Defensively the Union didn’t look half bad against the best team in North America. But these ratings are still 1-2 points too high for much of the squad.
Historically, CA is the most successful of the Mexican Big 4 (CA, Chivas, Cruz Azul, and Pumas). Toluca, León, and Monterrey have also featured in recent times.
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They’re not the best right now though. They finished 4th in the regular season Apertura and were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Monterrey. They’re currently 8th in the early Clausura.
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Agreed on the rest. Against MLS and Liga MX teams in 4 matches, we haven’t given up many goals. We simply haven’t scored any on the run of play.
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Zero on the run of play in 4 matches speaks for itself. Complete offensive impotence.