Chester — On a dreary and cloudy evening, the Union did battle with the defending MLS Cup Champions, LA Galaxy, at a sparsely filled Subaru Park for the first time since 2018. After a horrible start to the first half, which saw Philadelphia down 2-0 at the break, the Union clawed their way back, scoring three unanswered goals in the second half to defeat the LA Galaxy 3-2.

Speaking to the media postgame, Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell knew this game was going to be a struggle but praised his squad for their performance on the evening.

“This was not going to be a tough, not going to be an easy game. There’s going to be a real tough one. And the one that was built for all the trap games, and it was the traps of all traps, you know, this is the current MLS Cup holders, and it was going to be tough that we helped LA get off to a flying start. You know, we only have ourselves to blame and really good response from the boys. We had to dig deep. We had to show that we’re a good team. We had to show we can come back in tough moments. We had to show you know that, yeah, the point we give away, or the couple points we give away in Columbus was a glitch, and we also proved that we can solve puzzles and pieces in 45 minutes, right? We don’t want to do this every game. Takes a few years of my life, I think. But yeah, credit to the boys that dug deep, and I’m really proud of them.”

When Carnell announced the starting eleven for Philadelphia, Andrew Rick made his fourth consecutive start in net as Andre Blake continues to work his way back from injury. The defensive back line remained the same from Saturday, as did the midfield pairings of Jean-Jacques and Lukic, and Sullivan and Vassilev. Up top, the pairing also stayed the same, with Tai Baribo and Bruno Damiani starting for the second consecutive match.

Early in the match, the Union had a small opportunity when Frankie Westfield and Quinn Sullivan connected on a give-and-go that Sullivan dumped off to Tai Baribo, but Baribo was unable to control the pass and get a shot off.

The LA Galaxy had a few early chances, including Marco Reus breaking away on a through ball. However, the German midfielder was ruled offside.

The Union had another opportunity later in the first half when their pressing forced a turnover in the Galaxy’s end, leading to a chance they ultimately couldn’t convert. LA responded in the 25th minute when goalkeeper Andrew Rick misread a play and came out of the box, leaving the Galaxy with a wide-open net. Fortunately for Philadelphia, the Union defense was able to clear.

However, in the 31st minute, the LA Galaxy got on the board when Mauricio Cuevas scored after Danley Jean-Jacques turned the ball over in midfield, leading to a Galaxy transition that beat Rick, who perhaps could have done better by setting his feet before the shot.

The Galaxy weren’t done, striking again six minutes later. This time, Diego Fagundez beat Rick to make it 2-0 in the 37th minute.

For the remainder of the first half, the Union struggled to penetrate the Galaxy’s defense. Aside from a few nice stops by LA goalkeeper John McCarthy, there wasn’t much to highlight for Philadelphia.

Being down 2-0 at halftime isn’t the worst-case scenario — we’ve seen crazier comebacks — but the Union were playing sloppily. This was just the second time in their last eight matches that the Union entered halftime trailing. The last time was against Nashville SC on March 16.

When asked about the halftime talk, Carnell shared:

“I felt to a certain extent, that we started to drop our shoulders, especially maybe the experience against Columbus, giving up a goal late, and then now we take two, so a little shake at half time, you know, a little bit of belief, a little bit of confidence. No video shown. It’s just about the mentality, and we were able to come back. And it’s a sign of a good team that can ride these waves of adversity to bounce back. So again, really proud of the guys that dug deep.”

The Union started the second half strong. A corner from Kai Wagner found Jakob Glesnes, whose header deflected off Nathan Harriel and past a falling McCarthy to make it 2-1 in the 48th minute. Just moments later, Danley Jean-Jacques crossed the ball into the box, finding Tai Baribo’s head for his ninth goal of the season, leveling the match at 2-2 in the 50th minute. For Jean-Jacques, it was his third assist of the season and his fifth goal involvement in five matches.

The Union’s first pair of subs saw Mikael Uhre replace Bruno Damiani and Alejandro Bedoya come in for Quinn Sullivan. LA countered with Christian Ramirez.

Philadelphia kept up the pressure, searching for the go-ahead goal. They created several chances around the Galaxy net, including a Mikael Uhre shot that was weak and easily saved by McCarthy.

In the 70th minute, the Galaxy made their next subs, with Julian Aude replacing Mauricio Cuevas and Tucker Lepley coming on for Lucas Sanabria. As the match entered its final 15 minutes, LA tried to slow things down. A referee stoppage also occurred, as Fotis Bazakos was replaced for the remainder of the match.

Uhre had another chance in the 81st minute but his shot went directly to McCarthy. The Union’s final substitutions were Cavan Sullivan for Indiana Vassilev and Olewethu Makhanya for Frankie Westfield.

On the decision to bring on Sullivan and Makhanya, Carnell explained:

“Indy took a knock. So just thinking of how we can finish off the game and the energy we can get then. Frankie has given us so much, and he plays like a right winger sometimes. So, you know, just thinking of the schedule that we have, and just thinking about the games coming up thick and fast, and just to think about sharing up the back, Nate’s not as as adventurous, I would say, as Frankie. So just to keep a little bit more stability, the game was too open for me at that point. Even at two, two, we want to control the proceedings.”

As the Galaxy looked to counter and steal a late goal, eight minutes of stoppage time were added.

In the final minutes, after LA attempted to clear the ball, Cavan Sullivan made a heads-up play to keep it in the attacking third and connected with Bedoya, who dumped it off to Uhre. Uhre dribbled to the end line and flicked the ball into the box, finding Baribo for his second goal of the night — and his league-leading 10th of the season — giving the Union their first lead and completing a stunning comeback.

With that goal, Tai Baribo became the fastest player in Union history to reach 10 goals in a single season, surpassing Jack McInerney’s 14-game mark in 2013. He also became just the fifth player in team history to record three multi-goal games in a single season, joining Sebastien Le Toux (2011), CJ Sapong (2017), Julian Carranza (2023), and Daniel Gazdag (2023, 2024). Uhre picked up his third MLS assist of the season on the play.

Though Uhre could’ve had a goal or two on the night and has struggled at times this year, Carnell praised his forward for the match-winning assist:

“We start gaining a lot of chances through what we discussed at half time, and start to force the issue. Mikael gets in some. Great spots. And now he’s got like, couple assists in a couple of games back to back. And, yeah, he’s just doing his job, and he does his job against the ball as well. So, you know, it’s part of us. You know, the philosophy to start defending from the front, but, and we’re happy with all the contributions. And you know, Tai had to dig deep as well. And he rewards himself with with the game winner.”

As the final whistle blew, the Philadelphia Union earned a hard-fought three points and continued their best-ever start to a season. With 26 points through 13 matches, they now sit second in the Eastern Conference. Their previous best after 13 matches was 25 points in 2020. The team also leads the league in goals.

The win marked the Union’s first-ever home victory against the LA Galaxy and their first overall win against them since 2012. It was just the second time in club history the Union overcame a two-goal second-half deficit to win (previously on June 8, 2019, vs. New York Red Bulls).

Next up, the Union head to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face Atlanta United this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The match will be available on Apple TV as part of the MLS Season Pass.

Main Article Photo Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union.