Columbus – With a one-point lead in the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings heading into Sunday evening’s match, the Philadelphia Union were hoping to get their first victory against the Columbus Crew since 2016 and their first point there since 2023. However, at the end of 90 minutes plus stoppage time, the Union found themselves on the short end of the stick, falling 1-0.

However, even in the loss, the Philadelphia Union found promise in the performance.
“It’s a top game against two teams. Really top teams. There was a battle that we lost in the first half, and I feel we won a battle in that second half. And credit to the boys for digging deep. Obviously Wilfried’s teams find ways to manipulate space and catch you in certain moments. And I thought we mitigated very much of that for the day. I thought the back line did an excellent, admirable job. We didn’t give too much away. And then we start in the second half with a different renewed energy, a different bit of belief. And this is a never easy place to play at, I think they’ve dominated here for many, many years. And yeah, I was proud of that second half performance, and then proud of the game overall.”

Andre Blake returned for his first match for the Philadelphia Union since Toronto, and eleventh overall this season.

On the back line, Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell elected to go with Jovan Lukic and Olwethu Makhanya as the center back pairing, with Alejandro Bedoya and Kai Wagner at right and left back, respectively.

On Lukic’s performance over 90 minutes, Carnell had this to say:
“I thought Jovan did a great job and had to manage his yellow card status, and I thought he did excellently well. So you know, like I said, the back line played really well. We didn’t give too much away out of the run of play. So really proud of those guys, proud of everyone. They dug deep tonight, and every week they dig deep for us.”

In the midfield, it was Danley Jean Jacques making his return to the starting lineup alongside Jesús Bueno and Ben Bender, with Indiana Vassilev rounding out the midfield for Carnell and company.

Up front, Markus Anderson made his first start of 2025 and second overall alongside Bruno Damiani, as Philadelphia was still without Mikael Uhre and Tai Baribo, neither of whom had played since the FC Dallas match. Another interesting note: Philadelphia homegrown forward Sal Olivas made his first appearance with the first team on the bench. Olivas has 3 goals this year for Philadelphia Union II.

On the very first play of the match, Lassi Lappalainen beat Alejandro Bedoya down the left side of the pitch, forcing the Union veteran to foul the Finnish wing back. Bedoya picked up a yellow card from referee Filip Dujic in the very first minute, setting up the Crew with their first free kick of the match, which skirted just wide of the net and out for a goal kick.

Columbus would continue to cause problems for Philadelphia on the defensive side. In the 12th minute, Mohamed Farsi’s cross into the box allowed midfielder Dylan Chambost a wide-open shot on goal; however, the shot was aimed directly at Blake, who made the save.

On the flip side for Philadelphia, Columbus’s defense—along with the Union’s lack of creation and midfield mistakes—seemed to handicap the visitors from getting the ball into dangerous positions. It would not be until the 23rd minute or so that a chip attempt from Bedoya, which sailed over the net, registered as the club’s first chance.

Jesús Bueno and Jovan Lukic also picked up yellow cards in the first half, forcing Bradley Carnell into decisions he potentially wouldn’t have made otherwise. This affected how the Union attacked and defended throughout the rest of the half.

Mohamed Farsi put Columbus up 1-0 in first-half stoppage time. Lassi Lappalainen again beat Bedoya down the wing, delivering a cross into Farsi, catching Kai Wagner out of position as the ball got past Andre Blake. With early yellow cards, it would be interesting to see how Carnell and staff adjusted in the second half and managed substitutions.

“At halftime, the goal was just get a little more pressure on their center backs,” said Alejandro Bedoya. “And making their team maybe face their goal a little bit more with balls in behind, and just be better with closing the balls into their sixes, you know, letting their center backs dictate the play. You know, have different triggers for pressing cues and things like that.”

However, Mother Nature had other plans. Storms rolled into the area just before the second half, causing about an hour-long delay, followed by an additional warm-up period. During that time, Carnell subbed off Bender for Cavan Sullivan and Anderson for Chris Donovan. Wilfred Nancy brought in Andrés Herrera, Jacen Russell-Rowe, and Ibrahim Aliyu as both teams resumed play.

Carnell commented on the break:
“Then we have to go back to the locker room and then try and strategize. And we had a look at a bit of game film, you know? So we set things up, we had a meeting. We let them be on their own. You know, it’s okay. I’ve sat here before till 1am and finished the game, so I know what that’s all about. And luckily, it wasn’t that long.”

Neither team really took control in the first 15 minutes of the second half, though Columbus seemed more than willing to sit back and wait for a Union mistake to capitalize on a counter. Former Union midfielder Dániel Gazdag picked up a yellow card for a hard foul on Danley Jean Jacques.

The refereeing came with some controversy on the night, as a tackle on Bedoya by Gazdag, already on a yellow, appeared to be worthy of a second yellow. On the foul and the yellow, Alejandro Bedoya had this to say:
“He just gets none of the ball. So some of the decisions didn’t go our way. But did that mess up the momentum for us? I don’t think so.”

Sal Olivas made his first appearance with the first team in the 63rd minute, subbing on for Bruno Damiani. For the most part, the Union homegrown forward had a solid MLS debut, getting into good positions throughout the evening and narrowly missing a few opportunities.

“We’ve watched him for months now,” said Carnell. “And what Sal does? He runs, and he puts a lot of teams under pressure just with his energy and and he’s pressing triggers. It’s not a case of just running without purpose. I think Sal has a really distinct way about how it closes time. And based on how he releases, and he’s got good energy, and he creates good moments. He got a couple touches in the box. So for his debut, I thought he did exactly what we needed.”

The Union had an opportunity in the 66th minute when a shot from Bedoya just rolled past Crew goalkeeper Evan Bush but was cleared out by the defense. That clearance launched a counterattack for the Crew, leading to a Farsi attempt from the top of the 18, which was snuffed out by Wagner. That led to two consecutive Columbus corners that the Union successfully cleared.

Bradley Carnell would later bring on another MLS debutant: David Vasquez, replacing Indiana Vassilev. While Vasquez had previously started in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 match versus Indy Eleven, this marked his first MLS appearance. Speaking of homegrowns, Olivas picked up a yellow card after a collision with goalkeeper Evan Bush.

As the match entered the final 10 minutes, Andre Blake did his best to keep the road side within striking distance, making a big-time save on a Columbus counter as he stonewalled Aliyu’s chance. Moments later, a clearance deflected off Diego Rossi and bounced just wide of the net, keeping the deficit at one.

With four minutes of stoppage time added, the Union’s eleven-game unbeaten streak appeared ready to end. They had one final quality chance as Jesús Bueno’s header from the center of the box missed the target. The final whistle blew to the applause of the home fans at Lower.com Field. The loss marked Philadelphia’s first defeat since April 12, 2025.

All things considered—with several players out due to call-ups and injuries, and missing their All-Star center back—a 1-0 loss was disappointing but not disastrous. Even more so when every other chasing team in the standings won, narrowing the Union’s lead to just one point. Still, there was a lot of good to take away from the performance.

The homegrowns contributed, Makhanya continued his strong play even with a new center back partner in Lukic, and Carnell made adjustments that kept the Union competitive in a match where they only managed 7 shots, none on target. There’s plenty of soccer left, and if a bounce had gone their way, they might have left Columbus with a point.

“Our squad’s been a bit depleted lately,” said Bedoya, “but to still be able to get results and be together, and even the second half display we had today shows a lot of character and power that we have in this team. So I think certainly I would take a lot of positives from this stretch, still stand in first place in the Eastern Conference. So just got to get ready for the next game.”

The Philadelphia Union head back on the road next Saturday, July 5th, for their third and final road match in a row before returning to the friendly confines of Subaru Park. Their next stop: Nashville, Tennessee, and red-hot Nashville SC, who defeated DC United 1-0 via a Sam Surridge penalty (and puts him three goals ahead of Tai Baribo for the Golden Boot). Philadelphia will look to rebound from a 3-1 home loss earlier this March. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be available on AppleTV as part of the MLS Season Pass.

Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.

Main Article Photo Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union