Orlando — As Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell and his squad stepped onto the field at Inter&Co Stadium on Wednesday evening, there was a clear sense of urgency surrounding the club.

Not only did Philadelphia enter the night sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings regardless of the result, but with just three matches remaining before the 2026 FIFA World Cup break, the Union were desperate to begin digging themselves out of the club’s worst start in recent memory.

Similar things could have been said about Orlando City SC entering the contest. Through 12 league matches, Orlando sat only four points clear of Philadelphia and entered the evening tied with Atlanta United FC on 10 points, while also searching for a bounce back performance after a loss over the weekend.

And after 90 minutes that saw Philadelphia erase a two goal deficit twice, Martin Ojeda’s 90th minute goal would be the decisive blow edging out the Union 4-3 in dramatic fashion.

“I thought it was a good attacking performance,” said Philadelphia head coach Bradley Carnell post match. “When you go a goal down or two, then you start risking a little bit more, and then you open up on the last line.”

“And you know, transition moments against, you’re going to get away sometimes, and but we dig deep, get back to 3-3. And unfortunately, you know, just couldn’t shut out the game. But credit to guys for digging deep in that in that second half. And yeah, again, you know the guys are fighting.”

The starting eleven reflected both the congested schedule and several injuries. Andrew Rick got his first MLS start of 2026 in goal behind a back line consisting of Nathan Harriel, Geiner Martinez, Olwethu Makhanya, and Ben Bender.

The midfield featured Jovan Lukic and Jeremy Rafanello in the double pivot, while Danley Jean Jacques and Indiana Vassilev operated in attacking roles behind forwards Milan Iloski and Bruno Damiani.

Danley Jean Jacques’s crossing ability from the right side was on display early, creating a chance for Damiani that drifted wide before another cross led to a blocked effort from Orlando’s defense on a Lukic shot attempt.

Over the next several moments, Orlando’s attack began to find space. Two long balls from Justin Ellis sprung Orlando striker Martin Ojeda in behind the Union defense on breakaways. The first attempt sailed high, while the second was cleaned up by Rick after a defensive recovery challenge.

The end-to-end action continued as Rafanello rifled a shot toward goal that forced Maxime Crepeau into a strong save, tipping the effort over the crossbar in what was a high energy opening 15 minutes.

Ojeda’s bright start eventually paid off in the 19th minute. Following a defensive mistake from Makhanya, Rick was forced into a challenge inside the box, making contact with Ojeda and conceding a penalty while also receiving a yellow card. Ojeda calmly converted the attempt for his eighth goal of the season, giving Orlando a 1-0 lead.

Orlando doubled the advantage in the 27th minute on a Griffin Dorsey goal. The defender simply outworked the Philadelphia back line, continuing a difficult opening half for Makhanya and the rest of Philadelphia’s back line as Dorsey battled through and finished to make it 2-0.

Philadelphia nearly found a lifeline before halftime. Cavan Sullivan entered in the 43rd minute for Lukic, who appeared to be dealing with dizziness, and immediately helped spark the attack.

The Union created two golden opportunities off corner kicks late in the half. The first saw Robin Jansson block Harriel’s attempt, leading to another set piece moments later. Sullivan delivered a dangerous ball into Martinez, but the defender missed a wide-open opportunity, keeping Philadelphia scoreless heading into halftime despite a late flurry of pressure.

Philadelphia opened the second half with renewed energy, led by the creativity of Sullivan, though the Union still struggled to consistently connect in the final third.

Finally, the breakthrough arrived in the 54th minute as Philadelphia’s leading scorer, Milan Iloski, found the back of the net to pull the Union within one. Moments later, Crepeau came up with another outstanding save to deny the equalizer and preserve Orlando’s lead.

Orlando nearly restored its two-goal cushion in the 71st minute when Ellis and Ivan Angulo combined to create another dangerous opportunity, but the final cross let the hosts down.

Still, Orlando would strike again. Tyrese Spicer threaded a pass into Duncan McGuire, who finished to make it 3-1 in the 72nd minute.

Philadelphia, however, refused to quit.

Philadelphia sparked a comeback as Cavan Sullivan pulled the Union back into the match with his first MLS goal with the assist from Bender just three minutes later.

For Sullivan, he became the eighth youngest goalscorer in MLS history at 16 years, 7 months, and 15 days.

“It was great,” said Sullivan on his goal. “I sort of got the ball and I cut it on my left, my favorite foot. Played a ball out to Ben, and I don’t know if it was first time or second time from him. I mean, it was all kind of a blur, but I got the ball back. It slipped past Augie, and I was just there to put it in.”

Ben Bender and Stas Korzeniowski combined moments later to stunningly level the contest at 3-3. For Bender it was his first MLS goal of the season and Korzeniowski recorded his first-ever MLS assist on the play, stunning the crowd at Inter&Co Stadium.

But in the end, Ojeda proved to be the difference.

The Orlando striker completed his brace in the 90th minute, once again beating Rick to hand Orlando City a dramatic 4-3 victory and send Philadelphia home still searching for answers during a difficult start to the 2026 campaign.

To add fuel to the fire, with Sporting KC’s 3-1 victory over the LA Galaxy Philadelphia now find themselves at the bottom of the league.

“It was a great fight in the second half by these guys,” Sullivan mentioned. “But honestly, you know, it’s not enough. We need three points, or at least a point on the road, and we got to stop giving up late. So you know we’re tighten the screws and turn this thing around, because you fans deserve more, and I promise we’ll be back on top soon.”

Philadelphia will now return home for the club’s final match at Subaru Park prior the break as they host the Columbus Crew, who defeated them a few weeks back 2-0, on Saturday May 16th with kickoff slated for 7:30PM. If you cannot make it out to Chester, the match will be available on Apple TV.

Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union