In their first game back after the nearly two-month World Cup break, and their first game under interim head coach Ryan Richter, the Philadelphia Union looked refreshed and reenergized. The Union were organized defensively and free-flowing offensively, especially through Cavan Sullivan and Danley Jean Jacques, en route to their first home victory of the season over the New York Red Bulls. The game also featured the returns of two Union fan favorites in Kai Wagner and Quinn Sullivan. All in all, it was a much-needed jolt of optimism for the Union as the second half of the season gets underway.
First Half
The Union came out of their extended break with energy and nearly had a dream start. In the 3rd minute, a moment of beautiful interplay in midfield sprang Milan Iloski in behind. Iloski squared the ball across to an open Frankie Westfield, but the young defender dragged his shot just wide of the open goal.
The Philadelphia fans did not have to wait long to celebrate, however. In the 9th minute Red Bull goalkeeper Ethan Horvath came out to claim a Kai Wagner cross, but collided with his own defender, spilling the ball to the feet of Iloski. Iloski made no mistake in slotting home for the opening goal.
The Union continued to press throughout the first half, but it was New York who found the next goal in the 38th minute. The Red Bulls cut through the heart of the Union midfield, before Emil Forsberg picked out an open Cade Cowell on the right side of the box, who shot past Blake to equalize.
The Union had a golden opportunity to retake the lead before halftime when a brilliant through-ball from Danley found Iloski in behind. Iloski once again squared the ball to an open teammate, this time Bruno Damiani, whose shot was saved by Ethan Horvath.
Second Half
The Union again got off to a strong start in the second half. In the 50th minute, a Westfield backheel found Cavan Sullivan at the top of the box, but his low shot was parried off the post by Horvath.
The Union continued to press, and soon found the go-ahead goal in the 57th minute. Westfield sent a looping cross in from the right, which found Indiana Vassilev at the back post. Vassilev’s shot took a deflection past Horvath and into the bottom corner.
In the 66th minute, the Union found their third. Wagner, reclaiming his set piece duties, put one of his classic left-footed corners into the box to pick out the head of a towering Niel Pierre for his debut goal.
In the 73rd minute the Union faithful were given further reason to cheer when Quinn Sullivan entered the game for his first appearance since tearing his ACL last September.
Three Points
- Both Sullivans Look Sharp: Cavan Sullivan picked up right where he left off before the break, looking the most dangerous player on the field and pulling off a few outrageous moves. Quinn Sullivan, meanwhile, showed little rust after ten months away from the pitch. With both brothers in the lineup, the Union attack should look vastly different from the plodding version we saw in the first half of the season.
- Wagner Returns: It is not hyperbole to say that Kai Wagner is one of the best players in Philadelphia Union history. His presence was sorely missed on both sides of the ball during the first half of the season.
- Dream Debut for Pierre: After a solid loan in the Danish second division, Niel Pierre returned to the Union to make his debut off the bench. Pierre looked sharp defensively and showed that he can be a force on set pieces, scoring one goal and narrowly (somehow) missing another.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union (4-4-2):
Andre Blake; Kai Wagner, Japhet Sery Larsen (Niel Pierre – 56′), Nathan Harriel, Frankie Westfield; Indiana Vassilev (Quinn Sullivan – 73′), Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukic, Cavan Sullivan (Jesús Bueno – 85′); Bruno Damiani, Milan Iloski (Ezekiel Alladoh – 85′)
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Rick, Geiner Martinez, Alejandro Bedoya, Agustin Anello, Ben Bender
New York Red Bulls (4-3-3):
Ethan Horvath; Jehkeele Marshall-Rutty (Julian Bazan – 74′), Justin Che, Dylan Nealis, Matthew Dos Santos (Omar Valencia – 46′); Ronald Donkor, Adri Mehmeti, Emil Forsberg (Gustav Berggren – 74′); Cade Cowell (Mohammed Sofo – 75′), Jorge Ruvalcaba, Julian Hall
Unused Substitutes: Tim Parker, John McCarthy, Andy Rojas, Nate Worth, Mihahir Jiménez
Scoring Summary:
PHI: Milan Iloski – 9’
RBNY: Cade Cowell (Emil Forsberg, Ronald Donkor) – 38’
PHI: Indiana Vassilev (Frankie Westfield, Jovan Lukic) – 57’
PHI: Niel Pierre (Kai Wagner) – 66’
Disciplinary Summary:
RBNY: Ronald Donkor (Yellow – Foul) – 77’
RBNY: Omar Valencia (Yellow – Foul) – 85’
RBNY: Gustav Berggren (Yellow – Foul) – 88’
Am I allowed to have fun again watching the Union?
Yes. If Damiani makes a better pass to Iloski and Pierre converts the goal-mouth scramble, the Union should have 4 more very likely goals (Damiani + Westfield sitters). Amazing return boys.
Incredible header for Pierre. I don’t ever remember a Union player jumping that high on a header before unless they were committing a foul while doing so.
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Good but not great overall performance. Would have been nice if they finished more given they did the hard work of creating wide open chance.
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Damiani is the best box to box striker in the league if not the world. If only that were an actual position.
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Nice to see Ryan Richter come over between sections 127 and 128 to celebrate with who I assume is his family after the game.
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Anyone else have to sit for 20 minutes after the game thanks to a freight train? (One time we really regretted not hustling out right after the game.)
I think the performance was more than good, but the lack of finishing was again their Achilles’ heel. Yeah, they scored three, and I’m happy about that. But there were 3-4 golden chances that needed to be converted. If this game gets to 4 or 5 goals, we all have a very different outlook on the overall performance.
That said, there were some worrying lapses from the defense that were not punished, with the one exception. Hopefully, that will get cleaned up quickly.
The lack of finishing was exactly what I was thinking of when I said good but not great.
At one time you had five homegrown players on the field playing for a homegrown coach. This could have been a blowout and if nothing else the energy was there tonight.
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On a side note, I see the Union had a cruise to the stadium leaving from Penn’s Landing. We need some information about this as 16 years ago there was mention of the wharf being rebuilt and boats would be an option traveling to the stadium. If they could ever do water taxis or cruises to the stadium, I think it would be a better alternative for a stadium that has a transportation problem with regional rail.
Just a few pieces can make a huge difference. The presence of Kai and Quinn changed everything about the feel of the team. I am looking forward to Pierre being a regular 90-minute starter. Sadly, part of that will be a “shop window” scenario, but we’ll be happy to have him for as long as we can.
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I don’t know what can be salvaged from this season, but you get the feeling that at least the games will be more fun to watch from here on out.
I guess I truly love this team, because I was so excited to be going back to the Soob again, and pregaming at Union Yards, despite this team’s place in the standings. Maybe I was feeling hopeful about the returns of Kai and Quinn.
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But I didn’t expect to have this much fun. The first half was fairly even, with the Union looking very sharp and energetic on offense and pretty disorganized and porous on defense. The Red Bull goal had been clearly coming. But the second half was sheer joy to watch. Cavan looked like a young wizard all night, Danley made some great passes and runs into opposing territory, Westfield rampaged up the right wing (too bad he missed that absolute sitter), Iloski was sharp, and Damiani was… Damiani. (I love Andy Muenz’ comment about him being the best box-to-box striker in the league.) The match easily should’ve been 4-1 or 5-1.
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I think the second half of this season is gonna be way better. Last year our offense went entirely through Kai and Quinn, so naturally we were stymied without the two of them. Now that they are back — and with Cavan as a regular starter, I hope — we should see lots of goals. This isn’t exactly a good team, but it’s nowhere near as bad as our pre-World Cup record suggested.
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I’m still worried about the defense, though, and if Makhanya doesn’t come back, that’s just more concerning.
Amen to all of this.
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As for the backline, it’s rare to see a CB come off. Maybe Pierre just took Sery’s spot last night and that’s the solution?
Reports are that Sery had hamstring tightness. But how do you sit Pierre after that match? He nearly had a brace!
Fair enough.
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According to Reddit, Makahnya isn’t happy with the Union right now. Something about them declining a transfer they thought was below market value? There might be room for both guys going forward.
Glad to see others felt the same joy for the first time this year that I did. I don’t know in the change was due to Kai/Quinn return, new coach bounce or Richter telling the lads to have fun and letting them cook. Perhaps a combination of all above. More Pierre please! The refereeing – OOF! Both ways, but I’ve never seen a ref allow players to swing another player around and throw them to the ground as a legal challenge. And the obvious two handed pushing on every head ball was a little bit much.
Did anybody else think that Alladoah looked like he had visited the pastry tray too many times during the break? Might be time to just give the minutes to Jakupovic
I see refs allow throwing their opponent to the ground all the time. Only problem is that it’s when I watch the NCAA Wrestling Tournament every March.
+1
Well said
For a team whose offensive ethos “seems to be”: sets + :
* get in the way
* knock them down
* take the ball ⚽️ away
* 1 pass quick transitions…..
Not having forwards who can run with the pace to get in behind seems like quite the problem.
I expect the misses. Most of these guys are poor finishers. What troubles is watching Bruno and Milan have opportunities to get in clean and get easily run down.
Get real forwards and move Iloski back to a wide 10. Please.
They had 29 shots and 3.7 xG. I don’t disagree about the speed up too but that’s a system that can work against most teams.
Bruno’s lack of speed was definitely an issue last night. His finishing wasn’t great either. I think Iloski is ok. Maybe not a speedster but not a big issue for a 2nd forward. With Cavan and Quinn both available Milan is best as the 2nd forward.
Nice to see the Union play like a team. Cavan and Iloski have talent. When quinn gets back to full strength offense should click. Piece eas a pleasant surprise. Should continue to be threat on corner kicks. Wagner bringing stability to defense and a contributor on set pieces corner kicks etc.
Enough said about the game. Usually I get an email from the Union about the game experience. Today nothing. The issue I had was that there was no data service during the first half and a very spotty one during the 2nd half. So were unable to use the discount code on the App and could not follow the game on X, etc. Was very strange. Have not had that issue for a long time.
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Also, anybody get onto the boat? I got an email from Fan Services asking me to sign up and that there would be a draw. 6 lucky winners would be chosen.
So to make the playoffs, minimum points needed in Eastern Conference…
2025. 54 points
2024 40 points
2023 . 43 points
2022. 46 points
Let’s say Union need 35 points (?) in the remaining games to have a chance at making the playoffs… CAN THEY DO IT?
Can they? Yes. They have 10 home games and the only one of the top 3 in the east that they play at home is Miami in a midweek game where Miami has a top 2 clash with Nashville 3 days earlier and a home game 3 days later so they may not play some of their overpriced geriatrics.
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Their 3 western conference road games are against the bottom 3 teams in the conference so those are all winnable road games. That’s reasonable chances at 39 points.
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Will they? Probably not.