CHESTER, Pa. — It was a beautiful and breezy May evening on the Delaware River outside of Subaru Park as the Philadelphia Union were set to host their final match at Subaru Park prior to the World Cup break, taking on the Columbus Crew while still looking for their first home win of 2026.
And while once again, the Union conceded first — a trend that has become all too common as this season has continued — a strong second half, marked by a Milan Iloski goal, allowed the Union to pick up a 1-1 draw despite still being winless at home in 2026.
“I mean, we’re looking for wins, you know,” said Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell when asked about the result. “I think we can leave the away column, the win column at home, all of these things, that’s regardless.”
“Right now, we just need to try and pick up wins, and I think with spirited performances like we did in the second half, you know, you will yourself to the win, and this is sometimes a windy, bumpy road, and we find ourselves in that windy, bumpy road, you know, but what you see is boys digging deep, committing, fighting, giving everything till the very last minute, and digging deep, and have moments and momentum to win the game.”
The starting eleven for Saturday’s match strongly mirrored Wednesday’s lineup with two notable exceptions. Andre Blake returned to net following routine work done to his knee, according to Carnell. Cavan Sullivan also made the start, coming off his first MLS goal, on the right side of the midfield, with Danley Jean-Jacques sliding back to the double pivot alongside Jovan Lukic, who had returned to action after leaving Orlando early due to player safety concerns.
Hugo Picard’s 10th-minute goal gave Columbus an early lead in the match. While the goal from Picard was a wonderfully struck ball that beat Andre Blake fair and square, the Union defense allowed him far too much time and space and did not close the midfielder down quickly enough, leading to the goal.
Columbus almost had another chance on goal in the 20th minute following a set-piece attempt that was defended initially by Philadelphia. However, Diego Rossi was able to cross the ball on the offensive recovery, allowing Sean Zawadzki to get a header onto it that skipped wide of the net.
Philadelphia’s first real chance came in the 24th minute with Sullivan threading a through ball to a charging Milan Iloski, who crossed it for Bruno Damiani. Damiani, however, was unable to control the delivery, and the ball fell to Nathan Harriel, who again was unable to get a quality attempt on net off, which has been the story far too often this season.
Ben Bender had a one-time half-volley in the 35th minute off a cleared set piece that skipped to him, allowing him to unload a shot that just missed wide of the post.
“It felt amazing coming off my foot,” said Bender when asked about the shot. “I thought it was gonna go inside the post, but then when it went like a yard or so outside, I was bummed. But yeah, good opportunity.”
“With Nate and Ben, so it’s not as static or predictable,” Carnell mentioned about Bender’s performance on the evening. “And Ben’s a really tidy soccer player, you know, he’s very clean under pressure, and he’s got a good range of passing. He can go long, he can cut inside, and you know, he can play through the lines, and then he can get in in the final third, and then create a little bit of his 1v1 scenarios as well.”
Just before halftime, Olwethu Makhanya picked up a yellow card, meaning he will miss next weekend’s match against Inter Miami due to accumulation. The first half came to a close, with Hugo Picard’s goal serving as really the only big moment in what was otherwise just a lackluster half with both squads totaling just four shots. Philadelphia, in fact, managed only one despite the chances that were created.
Agustín Anello replaced Jovan Lukic at halftime with Philadelphia starting the half looking to find any sort of rhythm in its offense.
“All the baseline tests were positive, and that’s why we threw him in again, and he was feeling okay,” said Carnell on the reasoning behind subbing off Lukic at halftime. “But you know, with a regen, or you know, off day regen for the guys on Thursday training yesterday, and then getting them going at a match tempo. We couldn’t test it out, so today was like the test, and I didn’t feel he was quite up to his usual standards.”
Cavan Sullivan’s 58th-minute shot, which skipped up on goal and forced Patrick Schulte to make a save, offered a brief glimpse of hope. However, moments later, Philadelphia forced Schulte to come out of the box to make a play, which the goalkeeper was unable to do and was caught out of net.
But Philadelphia was unable to get the throw-in off in time, forcing a frustrated Iloski to slam the ball down, wasting another potential opportunity to create a scoring chance.
Philadelphia finally found a little life in the 70th minute with Bender slipping a ball forward to Anello, allowing him the opportunity to slot a cross to a charging Milan Iloski, who beat Schulte to level the match at one apiece.
For Anello, that was the first MLS assist of his career.
“To be honest, I think we really understand each other,” Anello said on playing on the left-hand side with Bender. “He plays quick, one touch. He likes that little quick association. So, I think we understand each other pretty well.”
“I was just trying to be ready for my chance, and we had a couple injuries, and so Coach gave me an opportunity against Orlando, tried to make the best of my opportunity,” Ben Bender added about his starts the last two matches. “Happy to get the goal [in Orlando], be a part of Cavan’s goal, first goal, as well, special moment for him, and then, yeah, to play another good game and be a part of the goal tonight is pretty special, especially playing a new position.”
As the match dragged into the 80th minute, Sullivan almost gave the Union the lead, driving a shot on net and spilling the ball from Columbus’ keeper to keep it out of goal and back into play.
However, Ezekiel Alladoh did not crash the net, instead standing there as only the young Sullivan crashed in, giving Schulte time to make the save.
The Union found themselves with one last chance to potentially get a goal in the dying minutes of the match following a foul just outside the 18-yard box. Cavan Sullivan took the free kick, and while he delivered the shot on target and through the wall, it was right at goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, who made the save as the final whistle sounded.
With the result, while Philadelphia did pick up a point on the evening, it did not move the club out of the bottom of the league standings. To add insult to injury, Sporting KC rallied to score two second-half goals on the road in Austin for its second consecutive match.
However, despite the team’s current standing, the players remain confident in the squad’s ability to turn things around, especially following the World Cup break.
“We really put in the work to deliver them what they deserve, what the Philly fans deserve,” mentioned Anello when asked about the message to the fans moving forward. “They are very passionate, and we really feel that day in and day out. It takes a toll on us, and it hurts so deeply, not bringing the fan base what they deserve. So, we just, I repeat again, to trust in us that we’re going to bounce back from this.”
“We’re not in a good run of games right now, obviously,” Bender added. “We haven’t won a game in a while, but the word that comes to mind is always belief that we can come back, and yeah, I think you saw in the second half we took advantage of a lot of moments, and yeah, we almost turned the game around and won it, so that was positive.”
As for those wondering about Carnell’s status as the Union head coach heading into the break, the Philadelphia Union coach had this response when asked how he feels about his job security.
“I think the club has a vision, they know it’s not going optimal at the moment, and I’m the first one to raise my hand,” Carnell mentioned when asked. “But I can control the things that I can control, and that’s a team environment, and that’s a team performance that tries week in and week out on the training field, gives their everything every single day, and so be it.”
“Other than that, it’s out of my control. So, but you know, the conversations I’ve had with everyone and all the stakeholders involved have been positive, you know, positive, not in terms of results, but in terms of structure and what we believe in, and which is the way forward, and yeah, that gives us now a chance to go to Miami, and then we reset and reshuffle the pack.”
Philadelphia’s final match before the break will be next Sunday against Inter Miami CF at the brand-new Nu Stadium in Miami. The match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start and can be watched on AppleTV.
Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union.
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