Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union returned to MLS action tonight with a trip to Yankee Stadium to face New York City FC in an Eastern Conference matchup. Philadelphia entered the night riding a three-game MLS winning streak since the World Cup break, including a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Atlanta United in its last league match. NYCFC has been in good form as well, going unbeaten in its three MLS matches since the break, setting up an important matchup between two teams looking to carry their momentum into the stretch run of the season.
Interim head coach Ryan Richter turned to a familiar 4-2-2-2, with André Blake in goal behind a back line of Kai Wagner, Neil Pierre, Nathan Harriel and Frankie Westfield. Danley Jean Jacques and Jovan Lukić anchored the center of the midfield, with Cavan Sullivan and Indiana Vassilev providing the attacking threat out wide. Up top, Milan Iloski joined Bruno Damiani as the Union looked to keep their winning streak alive and come away from the Bronx with three points.
Despite a lackluster first half, the Union came back from a 2-goal deficit for the second consecutive MLS match to prevail 3-2.
How The Match Unfolded
First Half
The Union could hardly have gotten off to a worse start at Yankee Stadium, finding themselves behind just four minutes into the match. NYCFC took a deserved 1-0 lead after Peirre committed a clear foul in the box. Bénie Traoré stepped up and converted to give the hosts the advantage as Blake was left flatfooted and looking as the shot bounced in off the post. The early goal allowed NYCFC to dictate much of the opening stretch, while the Union struggled to find space in the attacking third. Harriel picked up Philadelphia’s first yellow card in the 16th minute, adding to what was already a frustrating opening period for the visitors.
Philadelphia eventually began to grow into the match and found a little more possession, but clear chances remained difficult to come by. The Union did have a golden opportunity in the 22nd minute when Iloski split the NYCFC defense and went in alone on Matt Freese. With the former Union goalkeeper coming off his line and making himself big, Iloski tried to chip him but sent his effort wide of the goal. Three minutes later, Iloski had another excellent chance, but mishit a volley from Vassilev and sent it just wide of the right post.
NYCFC continued to look like the more dangerous side, particularly when it was able to break into space. The Union managed six first-half shots but only six touches inside the NYCFC penalty area. At the other end, New York finished the half with 12 shots and 15 touches in the Union box. Lukić was shown a yellow card in the 44th minute, joining Harriel in the referee’s book.
Just when it appeared the Union would make it to halftime trailing by only a goal, things got worse. NYCFC was awarded its second penalty of the night in stoppage time, and Luighi converted in the second minute of first-half injury time to make it 2-0. The late goal put an exclamation point on a difficult opening 45 minutes for Philadelphia and left the Union with a significant hole to climb out of in the second half.
The numbers reflected NYCFC’s advantage. New York held 54% of the possession, outshot the Union 12-6 and generated 1.93 expected goals compared with Philadelphia’s 0.40. The Union were not completely without opportunities, but they lacked the final pass and quality in front of goal needed to seriously test former Union goalkeeper Freese. After conceding twice from the penalty spot and creating little sustained danger of their own, Philadelphia headed into the locker room trailing 2-0 and needing a much sharper second-half performance to get anything out of the night.
Second Half
Whatever was said in the Union locker room at halftime clearly worked, as Philadelphia came out looking like a completely different team. Just three minutes after the restart, Danley pulled the Union back into the match, cutting NYCFC’s lead to 2-1 in the 48th minute. The goal immediately changed the complexion of the game, with Philadelphia playing with far more urgency and beginning to put sustained pressure on the NYCFC defense.
The Union continued to push forward, and Ryan Richter turned to his bench in the 62nd minute, bringing Jesús Bueno on for Jovan Lukić. NYCFC responded with a pair of changes five minutes later, introducing Talles Magno and Malachi Jones for Luighi and Traoré. But it was Philadelphia that struck next. In the 69th minute, Cavan Sullivan unselfishly found Damiani, who finished to erase the two-goal halftime deficit and bring the Union level at 2-2.
Richter then brought Quinn Sullivan on for Indiana Vassilev in the 70th minute, and the move paid off almost immediately. Six minutes later, Quinn Sullivan set up Damiani for his second goal of the night, completing a remarkable turnaround and giving Philadelphia a 3-2 lead. After spending the first half struggling to create quality chances, the Union had scored three times in less than half an hour to turn the match completely on its head.
With the lead in hand, Philadelphia turned its attention to seeing out the result. Alejandro Bedoya replaced Cavan Sullivan in the 80th minute as the Union looked to add some veteran experience for the closing stretch. Wagner was shown a yellow card in the 86th minute, while NYCFC’s Malachi Jones went into the book in the 90th as New York desperately searched for an equalizer. The Union held firm through the closing minutes, completing an impressive comeback after entering halftime down 2-0.
The final numbers reflected just how dramatically the match changed after halftime. Philadelphia finished with 17 shots and 2.39 expected goals after managing only six shots and 0.40 xG in the opening 45 minutes. The Union also pulled nearly even in possession and finished level with NYCFC at 23 touches in the opposition penalty area. Most importantly, three second-half goals—from Danley and a Damiani brace—turned what looked like a miserable night at Yankee Stadium into a memorable 3-2 Union victory.
Three Takeaways
PSP’s Three Points
- A Tale of Two Halves (Again): The Union must stop digging themselves into holes. A poor first half was followed by a statistically dominant second half.
- Has Damiani broken out of his rut?: Two goals, both set up nicely by the Sullivan brothers. Honestly, I’m not sure Damiani scores either four months ago. Let’s hope this continues.
- Blake and PKs: Why was Blake flatfooted and left looking on both penalty kicks?
Lineups
Philadelphia Union (4-2-2-2):
André Blake, Kai Wagner, Nathan Harriel, Neil Pierre, Francis Westfield, Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukić (Jesús Bueno 62′), Indiana Vassilev (Quinn Sullivan 70′), Cavan Sullivan (Alejandro Bedoya 80′), Milan Iloski, Bruno Damiani
Substitutes not used: Andrew Rick, Ben Bender, Japhet Sery Larsen, Jeremy Rafanello, Agustín Anello, Ezekiel Alladoh
NYCFC (4-3-3):
Matt Freese, Tayvon Gray, Maxwell Murray (Mitja Ileničm Raul 78′), James Sands, Nico Cavallo, Keaton Parks (Kevin O’Toole 60′), Jonathan Shore (Máximo Carrizo 60′), Andrés Perea, Agustín Ojeda, Luighi (Talles Magno 67′), Bénie Traoré (Malachi Jones 67′)
Substitutes not used: Tomás Romero, El Hadji Samb, Kevin Pierre,
Scoring Summary:
NYCFC – Bénie Traoré 4′ (Pen)
NYCFC – Luighi 45’+2′ (Pen) PHI – Danley (C. Sullivan) 48′ PHI – Damiani (C. Sullivan) 69′ PHI – Damiani (Q. Sullivan) 76′
Disciplinary Summary: PHI – Harriel (caution) 16′
NYCFC – Luighi (caution) 43′ PHI – Lukić (caution) 44′ PHI – Iloski (caution) 50′ NYCFC – Gray (caution) 79′ PHI – Wagner (caution) 86′ NYCFC – Jones (caution) 90′
Serious props go to Bueno. He had an amazing impact after the substitution. Bueno and Quinn need to be starting every match, from here on out.
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Great save from Blake, too, despite the limited threats.
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Also, Stas scored again for Union II. Let’s get him on the 1st team, exclusively, already.
Agree. Bueno had steals and quick direct passes upfield to start the breakaways for both Damiani goals. Without him the defense has time to set and we end up with yet another Sullivan shot wide or Damiani crashing the box with a defender on his hip and skying the shot over the bar from 5 yards out.
Damiani scoring two goals that usually get shot right at the goalie or over the bar is something new. Iloski missing on three really good chances is also hard to fathom as this game could have been a blowout but that’s the way the ball bounced tonight.
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Is it just me but when the ref counts all the times he didn’t give you a call for consistent infringement and you keep taking stupid fouls that gets you a card, how do you have the look of disbelief when the coach brings on Bueno? Lukić looks like a star one game and a rookie trying to figure it out the next. Bueno will get the start against Miami as Lukić sits with yellow card accumulation. I think if Bueno has a good game, he might find his way back to being a starter as he’s been fairly consistent this year.
Iloski in on goal. Freese comes off his line and throws his arms and legs out to make himself larger. And — correct me if I’m wrong— he’s outside the box. Iloski misses the goal but if he hits Matt’s hand instead, it’s a red. Right?
1, Freese never left the penalty box, and
2. Iloski just missed. Freese didn’t touch it.
It was the Crapple announcers talking about how quickly Freeze got out of his Penalty box / area, when talking about the 6 instead of the 18 I think.
Was it just me (or just the camera angle), but on the build to the first PK the NYCFC guy looked way offside, like by 10 feet. It seemed odd that the commentators didn’t mention it and there was no delay for VAR, but when they replayed it he was clearly offside to me. Just happy it turned out not to matter in the end.
Also for the second PK, it sure appeared that the ball hit Vassilev’s arm against his body, not out, but that wasn’t as clear from the shots we had as the first. And at least they checked that one.
Still can’t stand Apple’s production quality, spending way too much time doing closeups on people instead of following the game. Oh, well, beats driving to the Bronx
The Apple close ups were driving me crazy, twice they came back to play and the other team had the ball. Also, how many shots of Richter biting his nails do you need?
I know it might be required for the promotion, but showing the benches and going over who is available while you can hear something happening live in the match is frustrating.
Frankie had him clearly onside when the ball was played. Plus Pierre intentionally headed the ball, clearing any offside.
I did not love the camera work on the Indy handball. I would have liked to see other angles.
Indeed, they need to stop digging big holes because it’s rare to get this lucky twice.
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Atlanta is a fellow cellar dweller and NYCFC was missing 8 players due to injury including Alonso Martínez along with their top scorer Nico Fernández Mercau due to suspension. NYCFC played a novel starting lineup with many unfamiliar players, so this seemed to throw Richter and the team for a loop, but they figured them out during halftime.
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The stadium went silent before the whistle never mind after. We usually let our disgust be known when we blow matches after 2 goal leads. The cat truly got their tongue.
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I’m pleased to compliment Damiani’s accomplishments today. It’s refreshing and hopefully it gives him impetus.
Jensen made a lot of subs. When Parks left they lost control.
Richter made a few.
They changed the game.
Remember thinking to myself that this is the kind of venue Bruno & Bueno should thrive in-because their lack of speed is far less exposed. Yep.
They were down NINE guys, so I wouldn’t get carried away.
Whoever has kidnapped Iloski……kindly return him.
watched the match, and the replay 4 times this morning.
Ryan Ritcher… stop biting your nails on national TV, from a former public nail biter myself. :-). The former German coach picked his nose…. not a good look either!
Sullivan “squared”, Iloski, Bueno, Jean-Jacque…and Domiani… FINALLY jelling and making Union soccer fun again for the fans, looking like season vets.
Back line too except for “rookie errors’!
So beautiful to watch unselfish play between the “kiddies”… and had Iloski been slightly lucky on his three near misses, blow out in the Bronx.
Anyone else see that Blake is truly an excellent goalie, even in his “advanced” age!, who makes even the easy saves look spectacular! Always has, NOT a cut in anyway.
Their guy was offsides on one goal… and Indy’s hand ball was a tough call… should only be a super sub after minute 60.
NO to First Team for Stas… right now. If you do that, send down “Abracadabra”… until he wakes up… but Stas is not ready for MLS just yet. Needs to be “cooked” more Sprint Season he’ll be ready to go
and someone said NYCFC was down 9 players last night…. don’t get carried away!
TRUE THAT.
DOOP.!
Union soccer is fun again.
Thanks nail biter! 🙂
To the two of your three points, Damiani brace only indicates that even a broken clock is right twice a day. On Blake and PK’s, he is getting older and slower but he was never great at stopping PK’s as far as I can remember. Good win tho.
I appreciate the guarded optimism in the comments. They have played weak teams during the stretch, but you gotta take care of the team in front of you. Get the vibes going against those teams. Miami will be an interesting game. Our defense will be tested, but our offense has been clicking, for the most part, and Miami isn’t exactly locking teams down. Another shootout should be in the works.
As far as Iloski, he was on a heater that couldn’t last. He had a bad night. I have a feeling that he’s pretty pissed about missing 2 sitters. We’ll see a focused and determined Milan on Wednesday.
They still might miss out on the playoffs because of the atrocious first half of the season, but they are at least giving us a fun ride to finish out the year!
What was most impressive about this match was that our star striker missed 2 golden chances, never found the back of the net… and we still scored 3 goals.
Other thoughts:
*I am glad that people mentioned Bueno up at the top of this thread, because he was really impressive, and not for the first time. I think he’s been playing at least as well as Lukic, and I’m perfectly content for him to start against Miami.
*Though Iloski missed 2 golden chances, that pass he made to Cavan (that was subsequently squared back to Damiani) was a thing of beauty.
*Cavan looks consistently badass and I am so glad he is starting now. Quinn needs to start on the other side as soon as he is fully fit to do so, which surely should be any day now.
*Just when I was ready to say that Damiani should be a box-to-box midfielder instead of a striker, he bags a brace. It would be nice if this unlocked him (but I won’t hold my breath).
*Maybe it was just me, but I thought we played NYC about even in the first half. The two goals were down to one individual defense mistake and one fluke. I was honestly not surprised when they took over the game in the second half. And it’s incredible that I can say that this season.
*Blake has never been good at PKs. Just not his jam. But damn that one save he made was something else.
I’ve been generally wondering how much credit Richter should get for the team’s resurgence, or whether it’s simply a matter of having Kai & Quinn back. I am thinking he deserves some credit for some of the decisions he’s made. Curious to hear others’ thoughts on this.
I think Richter definitely deserves some credit, but certainly having Kai and Quinn back is a big improvement. Richter knowing Cavan from II coaching and giving him greater freedom of movement makes a difference also. In the post game presser Richter said he challenged Cavan at the half to play better and I think it showed.
Richter should get praise based on each game but nothing else. At the end of the season let’s see where the team finishes and how the players progress. Let’s face it, part of this is the new coach bump and teams will start game planning now that they’ve seemed to settle on a starting eleven. Unlike Carnell I see Richter reacting to the game instead of just going with a rotation. Damiani & Iloski going the full 90 seems like something new at least for this game.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the regular starting 11 changes soon now that Quinn went 90 Thursday night. My guess is that he’ll start at least one of the next two games if not both.
Maybe the plan was to have Quinn play a full 90 Thursday to see how he does, give him partial rest Sunday so he’ll be prepared to play the full game against Miami on Wednesday.
I wonder how much effect the sloppy baseball infield patch had on Iloski’s missed chances. I noticed how all the goals were scored on the “clean” side of the pitch. Anyway, good riddance to the baseball field (with luck we won’t have to go up there for the Sprint season).
Sad to miss this one but the replay of the second half was amazing. Agree that they need to stop giving up the early lead! I mean put 3 in the net in both halves! Good to see the team gelling on the offensive side of things. The World Cup break and getting both Quinn and Kai back has made a huge difference.
Although the ball can skip at the seams, complaints don’t seem to flow from the temporary sod but the pitch dimensions and surrounding structures.
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My observations led me to conclude that he felt he felt very rushed to get his shot off quickly and was calculating that too much when striking.
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The Yankees pitch s roughly 15 feet narrower and 15 feet shorter than a standard soccer-specific stadium pitch so it’s congested. That creates pinball effects that reward or punish accordingly.
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The 18-yard penalty box takes up a much larger percentage of the total. It’s harder to get a ball settled and cuts down the time to get off a clear shot. That calculation also includes the follow through to avoid running or playing into the baseball apparatus, conversion gear, and stands that often tightly hug the pitch.
I know a lot of people besides their fans are gonna be happy when NYCFC stops roaming in baseball parks next year. The downside is that I expect that will set their trajectory into a top tier club.
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Like Miami and LA, NYC is a top global destination choice for drawing players and fans. It’s the most populated city in the US with massive suburbia. The club is owned by the Yankees and ManC.
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The holdup to NYCFC being a marquee team has been the dismal stadium situation. They’ll now have a new top tier MLS stadium in the Willets Point sports and casino complex under development.
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In short, our pursuit of trophies will get harder.
It is always nice to beat them on the joke pitch. NY was not impressive at all. Outside of the 2 gifts they rarely threatened. How can they be so low energy at home? Cavan continues to be dangerous and fun to watch. Nice to see Bruno succeed. Miami will be tough, but hopefully their defense continues to be awful. I don’t think Stas is an mls level player right now. If I had to choose I take Chris Donovan. Stas should dominate next pro, he’s 23.5 years old playing against mostly kids.