Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union
The bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference met in a game of two halves that the Union might have been able to win. More than anything else, this match against Orlando City SC will be remembered as the game in which Cavan Sullivan (subbed in at the 43rd minute for the injured Jovan Lukic) established himself as a play maker–and scored his first goal.
First Half
A much changed Union side, missing Andre Blake, Japhet Sery Larsen, and Frankie Westfield came out against the the Lions tonight. Ben Bender started at left back for the first time this season, and Danley Jean-Jacques started as the attacking midfielder on the right, with Rafanello working alongside Lukic as the double-pivot. The Union had the first chances, and the first ten minutes looked like a somewhat even affair, with the Orlando defense breaking up promising Union attacks with some last ditch defending.
But in the 10th minute, a bomb out of the back from Orlando’s Ellis to a streaking Ojeda almost caught the Union napping. The swift intervention of Lukic put Ojeda off, and the shot went wide. In the 12th minute, a similar arcing long ball from Ellis found Ojeda again, but again the chance went begging. In the 13th minute, Orlando gave Rafanello space outside the box, and he let go with a thumping shot from 40 yards out that forced a diving save from goalkeeper Crepeau who did well to keep the ball out of the top left corner.
And then the wheels fell off for the Union. In the 24th minute, a third searching long ball from Ellis to Ojeda was mishandled by Makhanya, and Ojeda pounced on the mistake, streaking toward goal, where Andrew Rick took him down in the box, earning a yellow card for himself and a penalty kick for Orlando. Which they converted. Poor play, poor passing and lackluster runs continued to mar most of the Union’s attempts, and in the 27th minute, shambolic defending allowed Dorsey to pounce on a loose ball and roof it into the Union net. In the 43rd minute, Cavan Sullivan came on for an injured Lukic, and during the final five minutes of stoppage time, the Union looked dangerous. Score, Orlando 2, Union 0.
Second Half
The second half started slowly for the Union, but their smothering pressure and improved passing began to pin Orlando back, and made the Lions’ long balls less frequent. Cavan Sullivan and Nathan Harriel on the right side created overloads and switched points of attack, and Bender was getting forward on the left side. The Union’s pressure was rewarded in the 52nd minute with the Union’s eighth corner kick of the night. The ninth corner just a minute later brought a good header on goal, and another fine save from Crepeau.
In the 54th minute, Milan Iloski put the Union on the board and gave the side a visible lift. In the 57th minute, Makhanya was denied the equalizer. And in the 72nd minute, Martinez missed a tackle creating a 3 v 1 attack in front of goal. The ball was hammered home by the newly subbed McGuire to make 3-1. But the Union had a response roughly three minutes later, when Cavan Sullivan slammed in a Ben Bender cross–his first of the season!
The game grew stretched, end to end and side to side, with Sullivan and Harriel carrying a threat down the attacking right. In the 79th minute Bender latched onto a pass from Korzeniowski and sent it low and hard to the right tying the game at 3-3. The Union continued to press but in the 90th minute Ojeda made a diving header that skipped past Rick and put the hosts ahead. The second half was exciting and ultimately heartbreaking, but the Union seemed to find their spark.
Three Points:
Cavan Sullivan Takes Charge: Sullivan’s addition in the 43rd minute changed the game for Philadelphia. His partnership with Harriel stymied defenses, and he took his first goal very well. Moreover, he adds a dangerous, creative spark that has been missing. Not only has he adapted to the pace and physicality of MLS, but he is a creative force on the field.
Defensive Lapses: Errors by both Martinez and Makhanya led to two Orlando goals. In both cases, it looked like a lack of concentration. The uncertainty at the back seems to have a knock-on effect, and the midfield players are getting caught in possession, or not going into tackles with any confidence.
It’s early, but it’s late. The Union have only two games left before the extended World Cup break in June. We can only hope that the break gives the Union a chance to reset and build upon some of the performances tonight.
GOALS/ASSISTS
ORL – Martín Ojeda (unassisted) 19’
ORL – Griffin Dorsey (unassisted) 27’
PHI – Milan Iloski (Harriel, Sullivan) 54’
ORL – Duncan McGuire (Spicer)72’
PHI – Cavan Sullivan (Bender) 75’
PHI – Ben Bender (Korzeniowski) 79’
ORL – Martín Ojeda (Marín, Angulo) 90’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
PHI – Andrew Rick (caution) 17’
ORL – Tiago (caution) 51’
PHI – Danley Jean Jacques (caution) 59’
PHI – Jeremy Rafanello (caution) 60’
Lineups
Philadelphia Union: Andrew Rick, Geiner Martinez, Ben Bender, Nathan Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, Jovan Lukic (Cavan Sullivan 44’), Jeremy Rafanello, Indiana Vassilev (Agustin Anello 65’ ), Danley Jean Jacques, Bruno Damiani (Stas Korzeniowski 75’), Milan Iloski (Ezekiel Alladoh 75’).
Substitutes not used: George Marks, Alejandro Bedoya, Olivier Mbaizo, Philippe Ndinga, Finn Sundstrom.
Orlando City SC: Maxime Crépeau, Robin Jansson, Iago Teodoro, David Brekalo (Adrián Marín 64’), Griffin Dorsey (Marco Pasalic 81’), Eduard Atuesta ( Luis Otávio 64’), Braian Ojeda, Tiago (Tyrese Spicer 64’), Iván Angulo, Martín Ojeda, Justin Ellis (Duncan McGuire 70’).
Substitutes not used: Tahir Reid-Brown, Javier Otero, Wilder Cartagena, Zakaria Taifi
Referee: Sergii Boiko
Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Adam Wienckowski
Fourth Official: Elvis Osmanovic
VAR: Joe Dickerson
AVAR: Craig Lowry
My wife, who somehow still lets me watch this team and who only knows what a CB is because our daughter played the position all the way through her youth soccer career after the replay of the Orlando game winner,
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“Why did the Union CB’s just watch him run past them?’
Philadelphia are on pace to give up 60 goals this season.
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They are giving up 1.769 goals per game for the first 13 of 34 total games.
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They gave up 55 in 2024.
STL and SKC both pulled off wins. We now officially own the basement.
FC Cincinnati (2021) hold the 34-game lowest point record: 20 points
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Current .46 PPG has the Union at 16 points for the season.
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Yikes!
Carnell needs to be fired before the sun comes up.
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Thing is, what unemployed manager would even think of coming to this s-show?
It will be interesting to see what ET does on June 1. I don’t think that this mess is 100% attributable to BC, but he is the face of the awful team performances. Wilfried Nancy is still unemployed. Hiring him would require adopting a new system, so it’s a long shot. But still I can dream.
Gio Savarese is my choice…
Might as well get rid of the academy if Gio is hired.
A full system change requires major adjustments/personnel replacements from the U-9s of the pre-academy all the way up to to the first team. It would mean change at every level. The only thing that would remain the same is the academic curriculum of YSC Academy.
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That would not be a decision taken lightly. I could easily involve considerable expense if multi-yer contracts were involved at any of the various levles. Nor is it a decision to be applied in the middle of a season, involving as it would going back to square one and starting over even if there is an hiatus of more days length than was available in preseason.
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A Wilfred Nancy or other such outsider would have have to adjust to the basics of the Union’s way of doing things. The player personnel have the characteristics necessary for energy drink chaos soccer. Adopting a slow-build pattern and possession game would go back to square one and start over.
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The move Tanner made that crystalized the side for its 2022 run was the addition of an older, successful, experienced but second tier striker with pace sufficient to threaten the green space behind a high line of confrontation. HIs name was Mikael Uhre and he had been the Danish league’s leading scorer if memory serves.
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The time to find such a player is after the European seasons are over. That is now. of course such details are held very very closely until any deal might be close to getting over the line.
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I have no direct evidence whatsoever of any kind, none. I have only logic and an historical precedent.
Tim, I think the idea that system changes require massive overhauls is generally not true. Good players are good players and should be able to adapt — I don’t mean play out of position, but should be able to shift priorities and adopt different techniques. And good managers should be able to find systems that work for the players they have available. A lot was made of Nancy’s tactical inflexibility as the reason for his failure at Celtic, but the bigger reason comes down to, I think, the players just not rating him as a manager.
I’m not advocating for Nancy. I don’t like system managers that much and would really prefer someone who could get a tune out of the players he has. I’d like to see the /union try something other than moving the deck chairs around to the same old places. It’s not going to work. And I’m not confident this team could sign an impact striker. Caranza is the closest thing we’ve ever had since LeToux.
On a side note, I was really hoping that CRAPPO would shit the bed. Perhaps next time.
Sullivan was clearly the main show and should be until MC relocates him. We’ve always done well with goalkeepers too.
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Other than that, it’s a hopeless situation with this bottom of the barrel roster. I’d like to see young Jakupovic and some other promising U2s given the season was over when it started. Might as well focus on next year.
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What’s the point of playing what’s now clear cases of well known obvious busts? If Sugarman seriously thinks they’ll turn around enough to break even on his ROI, then Carnell &.Co need to tell him to stop smoking shit and accept the hits. It’s wasting time with true potentials.
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I’m not counting Alladoh in that despite his disappointments. He’s too fresh here in a wasteland roster, still young, still has a character maturity curve room (although nearing its end), and he may be better suited for other positions and/or setups. I’d still experiment with him for now, especially given the cash investment.
#selltheteam
Just call him STAS*…
I only got to watch the second half.
Not gonna lie if you had no rooting interest in the Union or a general attachment to soccer in an aesthetic sense it was a pretty fun half of soccer to watch.
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Also. WSSSM.
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Love this all. Great end note 🙂
I only watched the first half. Got fed up and turned it off. Sounds like it might have been worth watching the rest, or maybe not given the result was the same. If you add another S each time they lose the rest of the season, you will wear out your S key.
Same here! The second half gave me hope of a point… but alas… not to be!
Thar’s 5 games now that would’ve ended positively if the games were 80 minutes instead of 90