COLUMBUS, Ohio— On a partly cloudy yet beautiful spring evening at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, the Philadelphia Union matched up with the Columbus Crew as the club searched for their first points there since September 30, 2023.

However, it was not the Philadelphia Union’s night once again, as their troubles continued, conceding two first-half goals, the first from Max Arfsten and then an own goal from Nathan Harriel.

The Union’s starting eleven saw some changes from their midweek clash in Toronto. Both Philippe Ndinga and Cavan Sullivan got the nod in place of Frankie Westfield and Indiana Vassilev, respectively. Westfield’s absence was unexpected, and apparently he picked up a knock. Head coach Bradley Carnell said post-game that they would assess him when they got back to Philadelphia and had no further updates on the defender.

Additionally, Jeremy Rafanello made his first MLS start of the 2026, replacing Jovan Lukic in the lineup.

In a bit of club history, Nathan Harriel made his 100th MLS start becoming the first homegrown in club history to accomplish that achievement.

On that milestone, Carnell said after the match that it was “massive.” He complimented the defender, saying, “And I think one is his character. Two, his versatility, and then the quality, right? You saw again tonight, aerial threat, defensively locked down. Just a pity we couldn’t reward that 100th appearance for him tonight with with some meaningful points here, or to take something home, back to Philly. But again, he has the quality, not just from the playing sense, but also the people sense. And my first sort of permit where I start to evaluate qualities is the people aspect. And he fits right at the top of that.”

Columbus got off to a hot start, finding the back of the net first in the 4th minute on a goal by Max Arfsten. The goal was the result of Phillipe Ndinga misplaying the ball off his foot, allowing Arfsten to recover the loose ball and putting him 1v1 with Blake for the opening goal.

Arfsten would almost beat Blake moments later on another breakaway, but Blake came up with the save. The goalkeeper and captain tried to settle his squad down as the beginning was quite frantic, along with center back Japhet Sery Larsen. The intervention was largely successful as the Union did stabilize as the first half continued.

The Union had an opportunity to equalize in the in the 15th minute on a build out of the back that led to Bruno Damiani dropping the ball out wide to Danley Jean Jacques, who then cut in to find Milan Iloski out wide. Iloski’s cross then hit the post and bounced out, but it had finally been a chance for the Union as they endeavored to switch the momentum in their favor.

Winning a corner following an Ndinga shot that deflected out off a Crew player in the 20th minute, Rafanello delivered a shot into the box that found the head of Danley, which just slipped over the top of the net and Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.

Arfsten’s strong first half continued for Columbus. The midfielder won a ball and flicked it past Olwethu Makhanya, allowing forward Diego Rossi to make a run in on net before crossing it over to Malte Amundsen. Harriel recovered and slowed the play down, allowing the defense to get back and clear out the danger.

Danley then received a yellow card in the 39th minute following a foul on Sean Zawadzki. On the play it appeared that Zawadzki pushed off Danley, who then retaliated, shoving Zawadzki to the ground.

Though they had done a better job battling the Crew as the first half went on, the Union were unable to to get out of the first half without conceding once again. Arfsten once again gave Ndinga problems beating him to a cross into the box which deflected off of Nathan Harriel and into the goal for an own goal in the 45+3 minute of stoppage time, doubling their lead 2-0.

On the play, Jesús Bueno went down in the build up and remained down following the goal and need to be subbed out for Jovan Lukic. In what was not a good sign, Bueno had to be supported walking off the field. After the match, Carnell said it was something with Bueno’s ankle, and they were not sure the severity yet.

Ben Bender came in to start the second half, replacing Ndinga. Philadelphia had an early chance with a corner attempt, but it was cleared out by Columbus’s defense.

Philadelphia continued to generate chances, first with Bruno Damiani’s shot that was blocked, followed by a header that went wide and recovered by the Philadelphia Union. That set up Cavan Sullivan’s cross to Danley, which once again missed wide.

Milan IIoski’s shot in the 63rd minute registered Philadelphia’s first official shot on target in their first eight attempts. In fact, the Union would out-shoot Columbus on the night, but with nothing to show for it.

Sullivan and Rafanello came off in pitch in the 66th minute, replaced by Indiana Vassilev and and Agustín Anello. For Anello, it marked the first time on the pitch since he was injured following an since Atlanta in a 3-1 loss where he scored the only goal of the match for Philadelphia.

On Anello, Carnell said post-game that he thought he was “great” during his minutes. “He has the awareness when to take a touch, when to take two, when to take a dribble. So you can see the quality in certain actions and in certain moments. But what he has is a desire to hunt the ball and chase the ball when we don’t have possession of the ball, and is a cool customer when he when he gets the ball. So yeah, credit to him.”

Coming back from that injury has been a process, which Carnell was well aware of. “[Anello] has been out for five, six weeks now. It’s not easy to come back in a place like this, and he’s been working his backside off to get into a position to be competitive again with the team and to give contributions and meaningful minutes. So we really welcome back his presence.”

A scary moment came for the Union, however, following a collision between Arfsten and Blake following a save attempt in which it looked as if the two collided on the play. Union fans were likely holding their breaths as Blake, who has battled injuries the last few seasons, was down on the ground for a few more minutes and appeared to grab his knee. Blake, however, would continue in the match.

Ezekiel Alladoh came on for Damiani in the 86th minute, and as it grew late into the contest with five additional minutes of stoppage, Ben Bender let loose a shot from outside the 18, forcing Schulte to tip it over the net for a corner, in which the Crew defense defended soundly.

However, things would not improve, and in fact take a turn for the worse. Japhet Sery Larsen tried to defend against Jamal Thiaré who was going on a run toward goal, and while there was contact between the two, Thiaré appeared to put his arm around Sery Larsen’s neck as they both went to ground. Though the Crew forward seemed to initiate it, Sery Larsen would be shown a straight red card by head referee Filip Dujic. It was checked by VAR and upheld, sending off Sery Larsen late into stoppage with a DOGSO, which will now force him to miss next Saturday’s match against Nashville SC.

Carnell said in his opening statement after the match that it was unfortunate and that he was not sure if that should have been a red, while there was a play earlier in the match that could have sent the Crew’s Sekou Bangoura off for a serious foul play. Bangoura’s yellow was actually rescinded on that play where he went full-spikes on Harriel’s leg.

And at the end of the day, it was not good enough to get a point on road when the final whistle blew. While the Union started the day in 13th place in the MLS Eastern Conference, due to wins for Montreal and Atlanta United, they leapfrogged Philadelphia, leaving only Sporting Kansas City with fewer points in MLS at four.

The Union will now shift focus toward next Saturday’s tilt with Eastern Conference-leading Nashville SC, who won 4-2 against Charlotte FC on Saturday and is third overall in MLS with 22 points. Nashville does have a mid-week match in their first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinal against Liga MX side Tigres, but the match on Saturday will still prove to be a challenge.

The match against Nashville is scheduled for a 7:30 PM kickoff from Subaru Park, and will be available live on AppleTV.

Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.

Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union