CHESTER, Pa. — On Thursday evening, the Philadelphia Union wrapped up their third and final match of Phase One of Leagues Cup, hosting LIGA MX club Santos Laguna.
Entering the match, Philadelphia’s margins for advancing were razor-thin, but it was not out of the question.
Philadelphia needed to win the match by a goal differential of four to surpass Charlotte FC in that regard. They also needed MLS sides Chicago Fire and Austin FC to outright lose in regulation. Finally, the Portland Timbers and NYCFC each needed to lose or draw; however, if they won their matches, they could not surpass the Union on goal differential.
But at the end of the evening, none of that mattered. Following two second-half goals from Santos Laguna and a clean sheet from their defense, the LIGA MX side defeated Philadelphia 2-0.
Interim head coach Ryan Richter decided to mix it up with a heavily rotated lineup, which in some ways made sense given matches with NYCFC, Inter Miami, and Austin FC coming up in the next week.
“That’s the main thing with the squad rotation, including tonight, it’s four games in 10 days, and that’s tough to play with the same team through that kind of stretch,” Richter mentioned with regards the rotations on the evening.
“The main reason was you know we turned around Sunday against New York City in a big game, and to try to keep the form that we’ve had in league to keep that going, and we wanted to make sure that we were fresh going into that.”
Prior to the lineup being posted, the club announced that both Kellan LeBlanc and Rafael Uzcátegui received short-term call-ups prior to the match, marking the first time for Uzcátegui and the second time for LeBlanc.
Uzcátegui got his first-ever start with the first team, playing at right back. While he is primarily a center back, he has appeared in that role during his time with the second team before.
“I was proud of him,” Richter said about Uzcátegui’s performance on the evening. “And with all the young guys who came in and got the opportunity tonight, it’s they were brave, you know.”
“And that’s the one thing that I’m really proud of him for, and I’m happy for him that it was a big moment for him, and he wasn’t afraid of it. Was it a perfect game? No, it wasn’t even his preferred position. But you know, he did the best that he can, and that’s what I saw from him over the last two years. Is that he puts everything into every game, and you’re never gonna walk away from a game thinking that he didn’t put everything that he could into it.”
Ben Bender, Japhet Sery-Larsen, and Geiner Martinez made up the rest of the defensive backline. Andrew Rick returned to net for his third consecutive match.
Jeremy Rafanello and Jesús Bueno, who was the captain to start, were joined by Quinn Sullivan and Agustin Anello, making his first start since May 24 at Inter Miami, to round out the midfield.
Stas Korzeniowski, fresh off a brace this past Saturday and being named the current MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Matchweek, made his first start since returning from injury alongside Ezekiel Alladoh.
“It felt great to get those goals, and now you know obviously I wanted to translate to the first team level and to help here at this level, so I feel like I’m setting myself well when I when I’m going down there and I’m putting those goals in,” he said when asked about his performance on Saturday and getting his rhythm back.
As for getting back with the first team:
“It’s been a long and grueling recovery, especially with the relapse in there as well, so to get some minutes in, it feels great. Really happy that I was able to get the chance to play out there tonight.”
The bench, which consisted of the normal starters, included Jovan Lukic, Cavan Sullivan, Alejandro Bedoya, Andre Blake, Danley Jean Jacques, Nathan Harriel, George Marks, Kai Wagner, Kellan LeBlanc, Malik Jakupovic, and Finn Sundstrom.
In all, six players made their Leagues Cup debuts on the evening.
Ezekiel Alladoh had an early breakaway on Santos Laguna keeper Héctor Holguín, but Alladoh took one too many touches, giving him a tough angle on the shot, which was cleared by the defense, negating an early opportunity for the Union.
The LIGA MX side countered minutes later, as Ramiro Sordo slipped past the line, forcing Rick to make a big save on both the initial shot and the rebound, which was cleared. However, Sordo was eventually called offside.
Philadelphia’s next opportunity to break open the scoring came off a header from Korzeniowski after he drew a foul from Kevin Picón. Jesus Bueno played a strong ball on his free-kick attempt, which Stas connected with, but the shot went wide of the net.
The next 10 minutes saw Philadelphia and Santos Laguna trade offensive chances; however, either defensive stops or poor final touches let both sides down.
Anello’s free kick following a foul on Bueno right outside the box presented another great chance, but his attempt on net sailed over the goal frame.
Quinn Sullivan had two runs at goal late in stoppage time, neither of which were converted.
For the most part, the first half was forgettable in that Philadelphia had more dangerous chances but could not finish as both teams went to halftime.
Santos Laguna made one halftime substitution, bringing on Ezequiel Bullaude.
The LIGA MX side struck first in the 48th minute after some sloppy defending from the Union allowed Ramiro Sordo to head in a cross from Bullaude to beat Rick and make it 1-0.
Bullaude’s night was not done, as he scored three minutes later to extend Santos Laguna’s lead to 2-0, with the assist credited to Mauricio Cuevas, giving Bullaude a goal and an assist on the evening.
Alejandro Bedoya came in for Jesus Bueno, and Malik Jakupovic replaced Stas Korzeniowski as Richter went to the bench for the first time. Uzcátegui ripped a cross that Alladoh was unable to get a header on net for Philadelphia’s best chance in the half to that point.
Martinez, who was down and checked for a head injury prior to the first substitution, eventually had to come out of the match and was replaced by Finn Sundstrom.
Richter said that he had not gotten an answer on Geiner, but that coming off with a head injury is not great.
Following the hydration break, another player would make his first-team appearance, with Kellan LeBlanc coming on for Anello.
“Kellan’s another guy that I’ve known for a long time when he first came in with the Union when he was 10 years old. So to be able to give him his debut, for him to earn his debut, I was proud of him and I’m happy for him and his family,” Richter said.
“It was good. You know, unfortunately, we didn’t get the win, but I’m grateful to my debut and just keep pushing for the rest of the season to try and get more minutes,” LeBlanc said post match.
LeBlanc had probably one of the best shots on target for Philadelphia, forcing Héctor Holguín to dive to keep Kellan’s volley out of the net. Jakupovic had another chance moments later, but his shot went off the side of the net.
Alladoh had another header that forced Holguín to jump to keep it out of the net at the final whistle, but that was it as Philadelphia fell 2-0, bowing out of the Leagues Cup tournament.
“When you step on the field, we are playing to win, and that is always the message to the players: is don’t make excuses, don’t start thinking about something else,” Richter said on the over all performance. “It’s we we attack these games to win, and that’s how I’m going to approach every single week, no matter who is playing or if we’re rotating the squad or what the situation is. Is like this is the mentality that we have to have, and that and that’s what I’m disappointed from tonight.”
The club will now return its focus to the MLS regular season and try to claw its way into the playoff picture with its remaining schedule.
But despite dropping two of three in Leagues Cup, Ben Bender is not worried about the team losing momentum.
“I think we have a good mentality within the group,” he said. “I think we’ll bounce back from this, put this one past us, and yeah, full focus on on New York. So I think we’ll bounce back.”
The Philadelphia Union return to action on Sunday, August 16, at 6:00 p.m. as they travel to Yankee Stadium to face NYCFC. The match will be available on AppleTV.
“We have to take this one on the chin, Richter said. “We have to have some honest conversations tomorrow, and we have to start preparing right away and be ready to start the MLS play again in the way that we left off in the in the last (league) game against Atlanta.”
Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.
Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
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