Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union
Despite a strong showing in the beginning of the second half, the Union fell 2-1 on aggregate to Club América in the Concacaf Champions Cup. The Union started the game down 1-0 in aggregate after a first leg lost at home in Chester, and given their poor performance that night, the deck felt stacked against them. But as Coach Bradley Carnell said in the pre-match press conference, “we have nothing to lose, and everything to gain…” Unfortunately, except for some exciting play in the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Union looked lost and out ideas.
First Half
A lackluster Union started the match, seeming to lack confidence and bite. Except for flashes down the right side, the Union looked disjointed. The press, when it was in effect, was easily bypassed, and Sery on the right looked overmatched. Wayward passes out of the back went to empty space or directly to the opponents. Club América seemed equally at ease going through the center or spreading the attack wide. In just the 6th minute, Sery gave away a poor foul in a dangerous area, and Club América converted. Viega sent a strong free kick toward the near post. Dorado rose, almost uncontested, and nodded it home to make it 2-0 on aggregate.
The game looked like it had gone out of reach in the 22nd minute, but Zedejas’ goal was chalked off for offside. In the 29th minute there was some nice movement and interplay from Cavan Sullivan that led to a free kick near the corner of the box for the Boys in Blue, but Iloski’s free kick went tamely to goalkeeper, Rodolfo Cota. Club América continued to find joy throughout the field, and the Union were on the back foot.
In the first minute of stoppage time, some beautiful interplay, again from Sullivan, looked likely to bring the Union an equalizer when Sullivan found Korzeniewski in front of goal, but he couldn’t get the ball out of his feet, and the chance went begging.
Second Half
Carnell made two substitutions to start the half, Damiani for Korzeniewski and Frankie Westfield came in at left back, sending Harriel to the right side; Geiner Martínez was subbed off, and Sery Larsen was moved to center back. There was an immediate spark to the team. The Union started with confidence and purpose and suddenly, it was Club América on the back foot. The Union were winning second balls and turnovers in dangerous areas. An ugly yellow card foul on Nathan Harriel in the Club América box brought Jesus Bueno to the spot, where he converted, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, and passing in his shot.
The goal seemed to galvanize the Union players. They played confidently and more composed, making good first passes out the back and finding channels. There was some smart intricate play, and Westfield began making overlapping runs on the left. Club América looked nervy, a complete flip-flop from the first half. In the 60th minute, Westfield got in behind the Club América defense, where some scrappy play from both Westfield and Cavan Sullivan won the ball and sent it across. Harriel, rushing on was not able to keep his shot down.
The strong, confident play continued, even after Danley Jean Jacques was substituted for Sullivan, with still more chances for the Union. A second away goal, if the game remained tied, would send the Union through to the next round. And they looked like the side who would score the next goal.
But in the 71st minute, Club América made a triple change that quickly seemed to douse the flame lit under the Union. The play slowed down, and Club América took control of the game. The remaining minutes were a chippy affair, and though the Union looked better than they had in the first half, it wasn’t enough.
3 Points:
- Players and tactics have regressed. The press is too easily bypassed. The Union’s ‘D-mids’ (Jean-Jacques, Lukić, and Bueno) have each been culpable at times, and during the first half Club América had free reign to play through the middle, or out wide, stretching the defense. For their part, the defense, at least with Martínez at center back, make poor first passes out that either go astray or directly to opponents. In attack, the players are frequently not on the same page.
- Cavan Sullivan, when not double-teamed (and sometimes even when he is) is a difference-maker. Why is he not playing full games?
- Consistent Performances. If the Union can summon a performance like the first 25 minutes of this second half, why can’t they start that way and sustain it?
Referee: Héctor Saíd Martínez Sorto
Assistant Referees: Walter Lopez, Christian Ramirez
Fourth Official: Nelson Salgado
Lineups
Philadelphia Union: Andrew Rick, Nathan Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, Geiner Martínez (Frankie Westfield 45′), Japhet Sery Larsen (Philippe Ndinga 81′) , Jovan Lukic, Jesus Bueno, Milan Iloski, Cavan Sullivan (Danley Jean Jacques 63′), Indiana Vassilev (Malik Jakupovic 72′), Stas Korzeniowski (Bruno Damiani 45′).
Substitutes not used: Andre Blake, George Marks, Finn Sundstrom, Giovanny Sequera, Alejandro Bedoya, Ben Bender, Jeremy Rafanello, Malik Jakupovic.
Club América: Rodolfo Cota, Cristian Borja, Sebastian Cáceres (Ramón Juarez, 45’), Israel Reyes, Aaron Mejía, Brian Rodríguez (Lima, 71’) , Érick Sánchez, Rodrigo Dourado, Álex Zendejas, Raphael Veiga (Thiago Espinosa, 72’), Patricio Salas (Raúl Zúñiga, 71’).
Substitutes not used: Néstor Araujo, Alan Cervantes, Alexis Gutierrez, César Lugo, Fernando Tapia, Miguel Vazquez, Jonathan dos Santos, Kevin Álvarez.
GOALS/ASSISTS
AME – Rodrigo Dourado (R. Veiga) 6’
PHI – Jesus Bueno 49’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
AME – Sebastián Cáceres (caution) 29’
PHI – Philippe Ndinga (caution) 83’
The Union will look to get on track Saturday, March 2, when they face Chicago Fire FC at Subaru Park (4:30 p.m. ET / Apple TV).
Anyone surprised by the result?
Yeah, who’d have thought that the Union would get a draw and actually score a goal in Mexico City given their poor performances there in the past.
Honestly thought Union were going to get a bare bottom spanking. Was surprised to see them put up a fight in the second. Slightly encouraging.
Great recap, James…
Poor performance, again.
POOD!
Did Club America score 1 or 2 goals last night? Headline wrong?
Good catch. Updated.
Good coverage of a disjointed team.
One small correction in the article. Wasn’t it Westfield who was taken down in the box rather than Harriel?
Headline s/b…. Match Report: Club América 1 vs. 1 Philadelphia Union (2-1 aggregate)
And Stas started in place of Alladoh who wasn’t even on the bench for this match?
Was he injured?
James: To answer your question in the second point (Why is he not playing full games?), my guess is that’s because Cavan is already sold with an unspecified imminent exit.
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To Sugarman, pitch time is better spent on developing others who are still for sale. To Carnell, pitch time is best spent on players who have a future here.
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They owe commitments to MC to develop Cavan for MC until taken, so they’ll perform the minimum expectations, but that’s it. Cavan is now 16 y/o with a German/EU passport, so it’s now legal for MC to remove him to their own development teams within the EU. The faster he leaves, the better.
So disappointing to watch. This was easily the most vulnerable Club America team we’ve seen in years. It’s not hard to imagine last year’s Union team putting 4-5 goals past this side across two legs. Instead, the Union managed only a single shot on goal across two legs. And that shot on goal came from a penalty.
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This Union team has barely anyone who can create chances and not a single person who has proven capable of finishing them. We sold those players and made no serious efforts to replace them. Not a single fresh attacking face saw the pitch last night, but we have plenty of Union II players to throw on for a fun run. Is it any surprise that we play like most of the squad has never even met each other?
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Were the first 20 minutes or so of the second half better? I guess, but mostly in the way that stale, moldy bread is better than being jabbed in the eye with a hot fork. If I was excited to just see hustle and running without any end product, I’d watch track and field instead.
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This team has been an awful and dreary watch from day one of this season, and there’s no sign of it getting better anytime soon. The marketing folks are going to have to work extra hard to pull together a highlight reel consisting entirely of us beating up on Defence Force.
Totally agree about Cavan…. he’s showing up the rest of the squad at 16 anyway. LOL.
Also, firing Carnell would make sense to me if we lose at home Saturday vs Chicago.
As much as I thought Red Bull Philadelphia MIGHT be a good replacement for Curtin’s non management… it’s broken and will NOT be repaired this season.
And with the engineer of this change (Tanner) effectively SET UP by Garber and his fraudsters… WTF, just start over.
BTW… have you seen the attendance figures for MLS 2026 so far? It’s embarrassing what has happening… so Garber needed to point fingers and obfuscate his failures except to line his own pockets. Tanner was easy….
Gio Savarace would be my choice for a new skipper..
Harriel’s shit shot from Cavan’s lovely work was just another example of a golden opportunity to score and advance gone begging. It was another match with zero goals from the run of play.
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Defence Force excluded, the Union have only 1 goal from the run of play in 6 matches, and that goal was late during garbage time while down 3 goals. At the pro level, these guys should know the tradecraft discipline and mechanics of accurate shooting.
This is the real issue. Defense has been a bit dicey at times with new personnel issues, but defensive stats are respectable all things considered. Offense has been a dumpster fire.
Been saying it….
This backline will be the best in MLS in short order. There are 5 interchangable parts, all studs, and even if Makhanya is sold (hope they wait till 2027) the Pierce transfer ends this summer, and they were very high on him enough to get him playing time in a competitive league.
Midfielders are the problem… Seems like no matter who is played, they all play solo games, nothing coordinated.. and the talented and expensive strikers waiting.
IF the midfielders can set the strikers up, they will fill the net. But until they do… Bedoya will be the best midfielder, which is sad.
Bad misses by Harriel and Stas. CA is nothing special this year. Team Messi (hat tip to Andy M.) did not advance. What could have been.
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PLAY CAVAN!
Another sad aspect. Miami got upset. Had Sugarman built upon the team rather than gut it, we may have had a nice run. Given he gutted the team so deeply, it will likely take cycles to rebuild it even with effort. It may be a very long time before we get back to CCC at all.
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Watching this year to date is like watching the comedy Major League backwards, going from first to last where the team moves to Cleveland due to terrible attendance.
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I suspect Cavan won’t be around much longer because MC will send him to one of their satellite clubs for better development and integration given our team sucks.