Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union closed out their busy April schedule with a 2-0 road loss to Columbus Crew. Playing their third match in seven days, the Union showed flashes going forward but struggled to recover after falling behind inside five minutes, while a late own goal doubled the deficit before the halftime break.
Philadelphia return home to Subaru Park to take on Nashville SC on May 2nd at 7:30 PM on Apple TV.
First Half
Columbus wasted no time asserting control, striking in the 5th minute when Max Aftsten capitalized on space in the penalty area to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Just moments later, Arfsten nearly doubled the lead, but Andre Blake came up with a strong save to keep the Union within reach.
Despite the early setback, Philadelphia found an attacking rhythm midway through the half. A flowing transition in the 15th minute nearly produced an equalizer, courtesy of Milan Iloski, but smashed off the post instead. The Union continued to push, generating a handful of chances without ever finding a finishing touch.
The match grew increasingly physical, with fouls piling up and Danley entering the book in the 39th minute. Then came a frantic stretch of stoppage time that swung the match decisively. Following a lengthy sequence involving a potential red card review and an injury to Jesús Bueno, Columbus pressed forward again. A dangerous ball into the box forced Nathan Harriel into a desperate recovery run, but his attempted intervention instead resulted in an old goal, handing the Crew a 2-0 lead before the half.
Second Half
Facing a two-goal deficit, Philadelphia made adjustments at the break and pushed for a response, but clear-cut chances remained difficult to come by. The Union’s best spell came just past the hour mark, when a flurry of opportunities from Damiani and Danley tested the defense, before Iloski finally forced a save from Patrick Schulte in the 64th minute.
As the match wore on, frustration crept in for Philadelphia. A series of late set pieces and half chances failed to cause much trouble for Schulte. The night ended on a sour note in stoppage time when Japhet Sery was shown a straight red card, leaving the Union to finish with ten men.
Three Points
- Depth? What depth? At this point, there might be baby pools out there with more depth than this Union roster.
- The ball is round. Carnell told reporters “the ball is round” – aka, calls aren’t going the Union’s way, but they’ll eventually turn around. Wondering exactly how big the circumference of said ball is, because this streak has lasted a bit too long.
- Sery-ously? After a questionable red card for Union’s Japhet Sery to end the game, the question becomes what the lineup will look like for next week’s game against Nashville.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union (4-4-2):
Andre Blake; Nathan Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, Philippe Ndinga (Ben Bender – HT), Japhet Sery; Jesús Bueno (Jovan Lukic – 45’+7), Danley Jean Jacques, Jeremy Rafanello (Agustín Anello – 66′), Cavan Sullivan (Indiana Vassilev – 66′); Bruno Damiani (Ezekial Alladoh – 84′), Milan Iloski.
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Rick; Geiner Martinez, Alejandro Bedoya, Malik Jakupovic.
Columbus Crew (4-4-2):
Patrick Schulte; Andres Herrera, Rudy Camacho, Sean Zawadzki, Malte Amundsen; Hugo Picard (Steven Moreira – 63′), Dylan Chambost, Sekou Bangoura (Amar Sejdić – 81′) , Max Arfsten (Mohamed Farsi – 81′); Diego Rossi (Jamal Thiaré – 70′), Taha Habroune (Dániel Gazdag – 70′) .
Unused Substitutes: Yevhen Cheberko, Nicholas Hagen, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Nariman Akhundzada.
Scoring Summary:
CLB: Max Arfsten – 5′
CLB: Nathan Harriel (OG) – 45’+3
Disciplinary Summary:
PHI: Danley Jean Jacques (Yellow – Foul) – 39‘
PHI: Japhet Sery (Red – DOGSO) – 90‘+5
This remains the worst Union team I’ve ever seen. Unwatchable. Yet… I watch.
Joke is on me – it is a joke.
For the sake of our collective sanity please find another organization willing to take Damiani
This team sucks. But, man, the ref was so bad.
People have commented that this is a rebuilding year for the Union.
But after watching this team.
With who?
Into what?
Two things are true right now:
With the exception of Sery, the players brought in to replace those that left are not MLS caliber right now. Alladoh, Ndinga and Martinez need to be dropped to Union 2 to learn how to play soccer.
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Carnell has to realize that the players on his first team roster cannot play his system. He needs to figure out who his best 11 players are and what formation and style they fit. 4-2-3-1, three at the back, false 9, really don’t care. But this roster cannot play the system that the 2025 Union did. If he can’t do that, he needs to go.