Photo Kevin Barrett

Philadelphia Union II fell at home to New England Revolution II to a late goal after forward Sal Olivas was sent off by a second yellow in the 31^st minute. Union II played a low block for the rest of the game to keep the visitors at bay, but were unable to force the match to penalties.

In advance

Union II played on five days’ rest after their exhibition match against Ocean City Nor’easters of USL-2 and tapped off just 30 minutes before the first team did so down in Orlando, Florida.

This match was the first-ever MLS NEXT Pro match to be played at the Kinetic Field at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex outside of Subaru Park, from where Union II operates on an almost daily basis. As previously announced, Union II will play its home matches at Kinetic Field before and during the FIFA World Cup break as Subaru Park accommodates the Côte d’Ivoire national team’s training camp in May and probably otherWorld Cup and — later —  Leagues Cup sides. Other venue shifts may be announced later later, but nothing is yet known.

Injuries at the first team level, including what the MLS Player Status Report the night prior mentioned as a knee injury to Andre Blake, meant that first team reserves George Marks and Stas Korzeniowski travelled south with that group. We anticipated head coach Ryan Richter would go into the midweek fixture with a light bench. He carried seven not nine. Academy Amateur Andrew Craig made his first professional start. And Abdoulaye Diop made his first professional matchday roster  and pitch appearance after his performance in the Ocean City Nor’easters friendly.

Philadelphia and New England went into the match level on points in the MLS NEXT Pro table, but at this juncture of the season, the standings are second in importance to player development. The Revolution is starting to take youth development  more seriously this season with former USYNT under-20 head coach Marko Mitrović at the helm for their first team.

First half

Sal Olivas earned a yellow card in the 8^th minute for a slide tackle on a New England center back after Olivas had been dispossessed. Play remained physical between the two sides. Jordan Griffin got a caution of his own in the 26^th minute for stopping a New England break down his sideline.

Olivas saw a second yellow in the 31^st for an unnecessary tackle. When the official raised the red card, Olivas swatted it out of his hand. Union II assistant coach Henry Apaloo was also cautioned in the aftermath.

New England center back Chris Mbai-Assem exited the match with an injury in the 36^th minute.

Union II’s best chance of the half was a recycled late set piece that found the head of Rafael Uzcategui in the box, but the captain’s header went just over the bar.

Willyam Ferreira went down late in first half stoppage time and exited for Nehan Hasan. Ferreira got himself off the field under his own power, but needed to be helped to the locker room on a cart.

Mamoutou Berthe got a yellow at the end of first half  stoppage for another foul outside of the box. New England’s shot on the free kick reverberated off the inside post but did not cross the goal line.

The half ended scoreless after roughly ten minutes of stoppage. Both teams were lucky to go into the break scoreless.

Second half

New England made two changes at the break. Philadelphia brought in Oscar Benitez for Berthe at defensive mid.

Things did not calm down in the second half. Malik Jakupovic was cautioned for a tactical foul that stopped a break, and after the whistle, the referee went back and issued a card to New England substitute Damario McIntosh for a foul earlier in the sequence.

Matheus De Paula was cautioned in the 62^nd minute.

New England piled on the attacking pressure, and Pierce Holbrook had a massive kick save in the 65^th minute to keep things level. Philadelphia, by that point, had every man behind the ball save for forward Jakupovic.

Academy U-16 midfield mainstay Abdoulaye Diop entered for Kellan LeBlanc in the 70^th minute, marking his professional debut.

Gio Sequera got into an altercation with the New England bench that saw him receive a yellow in the 75^th minute.

Philadelphia received a season high six yellow cards on the night plus Olivas’s second that does not count as a yellow card since it becomes a red. New England received half that number.

Holbrook had a double save in the 82^nd to keep Union II in the game once again.

New England finally broke the deadlock in the 87^th minute through Jacob Shannon after another heavy wave of attacking pressure. Shannon intercepted a Union head ball that was aimed at the end line wide of the left post and redirected it past Holbrook.

Union II had a corner kick at the death, but were not able to equalize.

Next match

Union II plays next on the 4^th day, at home against Columbus Crew 2 on Sunday, May 17^th at 3 PM.

Three points, plus one

1. Andrew Craig had a strong 90-minute performance in his first professional start.
2. Oscar Benitez entered the match while things were already chippy and managed to keep a level head. He defends more forcefully than does Berthe and covers more ground but distributes the ball less well.
3. According to the livestream’s commentator, New England’s head coach, Pablo Moreira, was not with his team because he was away getting a coaching license.
4. Matheus De Paula played the full 90 and never once hung his head in the face of adversity, showing that he is a serious player both physically and mentally.

B O X S C O R E

Lineups

Union II (4-2-2-2, L-R). Head coach Ryan Richter. 1^st – 2+0; U II – 7+3; AA – 2+4. Starters’ Ave age = 19.1

Starters: Pierce Holbrook; Jordan Griffin, Rafael Uzcategui, Andrew Craig, Giovanny Sequera; Mamoutou Berthe (Oscar Benitez- 46’), Matheus De Paula; Kellan LeBlanc (Abdoulaye Diop- 70’), Willyam Ferreira (Nehan Hasan- 45+3’); Sal Olivas, Malik Jakupovic.

Holbrook	Griffin	Uzcategui	Craig	Sequera	Berthe
UII	U II	U II	AA	U II	U II
23.1	17.5	21.6	18.7	20.2	19.4
De Paula	LeBlanc	Ferreira	Olivas	Jakupovic
AA	U II	U II	1st	1st
17.5	18.2	17.3	19.8	16.9

Unused substitutes: Matthew White; Kaiden Moore, Theo Reed.

White	Moore	Diop	Hasan	Pratt	Reed
AA	U II	AA	AA	UII	AA
17.4	19.0	16.3	17.9	22.6	17.5
Benitez
UII
21.9

 

New England (4-3-3) Head coach Pablo Moreira. Overall squad average age = 21.0 per Transfermarkt.

Starters: JD Gunn; Chris Mbai-Assem (Schnieder Mimy- 36’), Gabe Dahlin, Jacob Shannon, Allan Oyirworth, Javaun Mussenden, Judah Siqueira (Carlos Zambrano- 63’), Jared Smith (Shuma Sasaki- 46’), Jayden Da, Cristiano Oliveira (Myles Morgan- 63’), Grant Emerhi (Damario McIntosh- 46’)

Unused substitutes: Matthew Tibbetts; Sharod George

Goals

NE: Shannon- 87’

Yellow Cards

UII: Olivas- 8’

UII: Griffin- 26’

UII: Olivas- 31’ (disqualification)

NE: Mussenden- 42’

UII: Jakupovic- 57’

NE: McIntosh- 57’

UII: Sequera- 75’

NE: Morgan- 89’

Whistle & Flags

REF: Walterson Torchon, AR1: Zeno Cho, AR2: Max Smith, 4TH: Laszlo Sandler

Stats

UII	Statistic	NE	UII	Statistic	NE
4	Shots	19	0	Offsides	4
0	Shots on goal	8	7	Goalkeeper Saves	0
1	Blocked shots	5	20	Clearances	1
354	Total Passes	492
72.3	Pass Accuracy%	80.3	20	Fouls	14
1	Corners	9	6	Yellow Cards	3
6	Total Crosses	7	1	Red Cards	0