Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union

Player Ratings

Andrew Rick — 4

Made a pair of great saves in his first MLS start of the season, but ultimately the conceded penalty, along with three more goals, made for a difficult night for the young goalkeeper.

Ben Bender — 8

Starting at left-back for the first time, Bender delivered one of Philly’s best performances on the night. He won key balls in transition, assisted Sullivan’s first MLS goal, and capped off the comeback effort with a goal of his own.

Nathan Harriel — 7.5

Led the team in defensive contributions (13) and played a major role in Iloski’s goal with an overlapping run and dangerous service into the box. Nearly added a goal himself late in the game, rattling the crossbar instead.

Olwethu Makhanya — 5

One of his more lackluster performances to date. Had a handful of mistakes, including the sequence that led to Rick conceding the penalty.

Geiner Martinez — 5

Opened the night with a huge recovery run to deny Martín Ojeda on a breakaway and nearly scored on a first-half header that hit the bar. Still, the defensive struggles piled up as the match wore on, often leaving his fellow defenders exposed.

Danley Jean Jacques — 6.5

Looked uncomfortable at times playing higher up the field instead of alongside Lukic in the double pivot, but still helped generate some of the Union’s better attacking moments early on.

Jovan Lukic — 6

Did well to spring 60-plus yards to recover on a dangerous Ojeda run, but unfortunately had to come off in the first half.

Jeremy Rafanello — 6

A relatively quiet night, though the midfielder still found himself in a few surprising attacking positions.

Indiana Vassilev — 5

Any positive moments are overshadowed by how easily he’s dispossessed every match.

Bruno Damiani — 5

Nearly invisible for long stretches of the match…though at this point, it’s hard to tell if that’s an improvement or not.

Milan Iloski — 7.5

Led the team with seven shots on the night and finally found the breakthrough in the 53 minute.

Substitutes

(44′) Cavan Sullivan — 8.5

Completely changed the match after entering right before haltime, helping create Iloski’s goal before scoring his first MLS goal to become the eighth-youngest goalscorered in league history.

(66′) Agustin Anello — N/A

(75′)  Ezekiel Alladoh — N/A

(75′) Stas Korzeniowki  — 7

Made his presence felt despite limited minutes, setting up Bender for the Union’s third goal before nearly finding one of his own moments later.

Geiger Counter

REF Sergii Boiko — 4

Had a couple (honestly, a few more that that) questionable no-calls throughout the night.

Player of the Match — Cavan Sullivan

At this point, it’s no secret that the Philadelphia Union look like a completely different team when the younger Sullivan is on the pitch. Now the challenge becomes figuring out how to maximize that consistently.

Honorable Mention: Ben Bender

Admit it, you were still trying to process his assist to Sullivan when he went and scored one himself.

What’s Next…

Philly will have just one home and one away match until returning to play late July. The Boys in Blue host the Columbus Crew on Saturday, May 16th before traveling to South Beach for their first visit to Inter Miam’s new stadium on Memorial Day Weekend.