Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union
In an exciting match that was full of controversy, the Philadelphia Union tied Inter Miami 2-2, remaining undefeated in MLS under Ryan Richter. Indiana Vassilev opened the scoring, before Miami stormed back to take the lead. Unwilling to go down without a fight, the Union tied the game in the second half through a Neil Pierre header. The Boys in Blue seemed to have found the go-ahead goal, but a long VAR check overturned the goal. In the 10th minute of stoppage time, a major brawl ensued when Quinn Sullivan’s head was grabbed by Ian Fray, resulting in red cards to both Yannick Bright and Cavan Sullivan. Let’s get into the ratings.
Player Ratings:
Andre Blake – 6
The Union shot-stopper couldn’t do much on either Miami goal, but made a big save in the 69th minute to keep the match level.
Kai Wagner – 6
It was a tough assignment for the German full-back, who had to try to contain Messi down the wing, with mixed results. Several good deliveries, and was unlucky not to get an assist from his set-pieces.
Nathan Harriel – 6
Another game, another solid defensive performance from Harriel. Highlight of the night was locking up Messi 1v1, though the offside flag was raised after the play. A half step slow to react to Pinter’s run on Miami’s equalizer.
Neil Pierre – 7
Scored via a diving header, his 3rd in just 5 games. Nearly picked up an assist, but was correctly judged to be marginally offside. Solid defensively and on the ball for the most part.
Frankie Westfield – 7
Picked up a great assist on the Union’s opening goal. Looked to get caught too far away from his mark on the Miami opener.
Danley Jean-Jacuqes – 7
The Haitian midfielder racked up defensive contorubtions, including 4 won tackles and 3 interceptions.
Jesús Bueno – 7
ChuChu made his first MLS start since April 25th, and largely impressed in his 82 minutes of action, managing 4 interceptions and creating 1 chance.
Cavan Sullivan – 7
Involved all night, the young star’s 4 shots was the most among both sets of players. His work in the buildup helped create some of the Union’s best attacks. No complaints with the decision to get involved in the brawl, which was vindicated by the successful appeal.
Indiana Vassilev – 7
Usually on the field for his attributes relating to pressing, and defense, it was good to see the moustachioed midfielder contribute in those categories and get on the scoresheet.
Bruno Damiani – 5
Had a couple of good chances to score but was unable to find the back of the net. Wish he did better with his 1v1 opportunity.
Milan Iloksi – 6
Great free kick that resulted in the Union’s tying goal. Created the most chances among either team with 5. Good finish, but his would-be go ahead goal was negated by an offside in the buildup. Needed to square the ball on his chance in the 71st.
Substitutes:
Quinn Sullivan – 6
Couldn’t re-create the impact he had last week. Extra point for that form tackle on Ian Fray.
Alejandro Bedoya – 5
Hardly involved enough to warrant a rating.
Ezekiel Alladoh – 5
Willing runner on the night, sprinting forward and tracking back. No major impact offensively.
Geiger Counter:
Filip Dujic – 2
Genuinely terrible refereeing. Extremely inconsistent calls, which largely favored Miami. By tolerating Miami’s theatrics, he allowed the game to boil over, which was topped off by the red cards to Cavan Sullivan and Yannick Bright.
Richter Scale:
Ryan Richter – 7
The Union outplayed Miami, and Richter did the right thing by going for the win in the second half. Unfortunately, the substitutes didn’t have much of an impact, except for Quinn Sullivan’s UFC takedown on Ian Fray. Still, Richter has acquitted himself extremely well in his first 5 games, leading the Union to an undefeated 4-0-1 record.
Player of the Match: Cavan Sullivan
Showed exactly the kind of grit and skill that embodies Philadelphia sports. Maybe he didn’t get on the box score tonight, but his fingerprints were all over the game. Some excellent passes helped lead to some of the Union’s best chances on the night. As for the red card… Cavan confirmed he does indeed have, “that dawg in him”. Good stuff kid.
What’s Next?
The Union will look to continue their undefeated run this Saturday, as they travel to the Lone Star state to face off with Western Conference club Austin FC. Kick-off is set for 8:30 PM.
wouldn’t give Damiani or Alladoh more than a 4. 5 to me says average as expected play. A striker in on goal 1v1 has to finish that gimme like 9 out of 10 times. not 0 out of 10. and alladoh didn’t look like a fresh sub. he looked like he just woke from a nap and couldn’t be bothered to make a play for the ball.
My first thought was that these ratings were on the high side for a team that didn’t win the match. But on second thought, the Union did play well, they just couldn’t finish their chances. The strikers have the lowest ratings, as it should be, though I’d knock Damiani down one.
Forwards are paid to score. Can we please start giving Damiani and Alladoh zeros and cycle these busts out of here? More running around and nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, Korzeniowski scored another 2 for Union II today.
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Last year, Baribo had a scoreless stretch of 5 games…when he was recovering from injury and adjusting from being stuck in his war torn home country. Baribo received no grace from the prior coach, who proceeded to drop him out of the starting lineup at the end of the season. These 2 dudes run around uselessly for thousands of minutes, across a whole year, and are auto starts/subs every week. Can this please get mentioned in a press conference?
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If they want to give Alladoh more time here, I honestly believe he should be switched to CB. It’s not like he was some prolific scorer before he arrived here, anyway, and his physicality is his best asset. He only scored 10 Goals in 42 Games in Africa and Europe. Pierre has 3 Goals in 6 MLS Games this year, from the CB position. We will need someone back there when McKenzie is here and Pierre eventually transfers out anyway. Do it!
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By the way, if Pierre is truly getting interest from Barca, and given the incredible transfer money we are seeing from recent top tier young transfers from other MLS teams this year, could we parlay that fee into bringing Pulisic home to the Union and PA? That would elevate this team like the Beckham deal did for LA and the Dempsey deal did for Seattle. Do it Sugarman. Isn’t it better to have tried, and failed, than to have never tried at all?
Definitely fair to be critical of the strikers this season. I agree that Korzeniowski needs more first team minutes – he looked good early this season before his injury.
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Damiani had two good chances to score in this one. The first, forced a good save from DSC and the second, a goal saving block from a defender. He also had a nice through ball to Iloski, which led to a near miss from Cavan. While I feel like Damiani should have converted on at least one of those shots, he passed the eye test for me. In this game at least.
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Richter was asked about Damiani’s play in a pre-match presser ahead of the Seattle game (I believe). His answer was pretty telling, basically stating that Damiani knows he needs to be more clinical, but that the team plays better with him on the field. I agree with that assessment.
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Alladoh barely got any time in this one, but he really did spend those few minutes running his head off. Felt it was appropriate to mention that, considering his work rate on the pitch had been (fairly) criticized this season. Don’t think we’re gonna see the next Aaron Wheeler anytime soon though – for better or worse.
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Considering the Union tried to acquire Duncan McGuire, and are linked with Brazilian striker Gui Negão, it seems like they are not content with the current crop of forwards either. Whether or not those names excite you, probably reflects your opinion on the Union’s sporting philosophy as a whole.
Yep. I agree. They both definitely have a great work rate/hustle factor. I am ok with the developmental model, too. I just think that sometimes you need to open it up a bit, especially if you have a chance for a super rare homecoming story/opportunity like Pulisic to the Union.
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Regarding Korzeniowski, the concern is that we are wasting time with a talent not getting minutes with the first team. It looks like when Baribo first got here, rotting on the bench all over again.
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Great work by the whole PSP team, though. I really look forward to the PSP team’s articles, analysis and pictures. It’s the best place for us Doopers to get info!
Ratings for this match are way too high for not winning, reminiscent of inter-mural level participation awards, not for a struggling pro team.