HARRISON, N.J. — With a matchup that always draws attention when the Red Bull New York and Philadelphia Union play each other, you might think that would be enough. But when you add the names of Julian Hall, Adri Mehmeti, Cavan Sullivan, Frankie Westfield, and Neil Pierre, this turns into a showdown featuring some of the best young talent in Major League Soccer.
“I know all those guys, and there’s there’s definitely going to be little bits and pieces in the games where we either, like, you know, leave something in on a tackle or whatever it is, or chirp, whatever it is,” Cavan Sullivan told reporters post match. “But for us, I mean, as a team and individually, not too focused on that type of stuff. Sort of just, you know, the way I prepare for every game, just doing my thing.”
And while that talent was certainly on display throughout the evening, Philadelphia would ride goals from Milan Iloski, Cavan Sullivan, and Neil Pierre to leave New Jersey with a 3-1 victory on Saturday night.
“Congratulations to the the players, the staff, the fans that made the trip up here, and just proud of everyone involved to get a huge result on the road in the way that we did,” interim head coach Ryan Richter said to the media post match. “And of course, not a perfect game, but we survived the moments that we had to, and and then executed really well in a couple of big moments on our end, so I’m proud of the group.”
Heading into kickoff, Richter made only one change from his starting eleven in Austin last weekend, as Jovan Lukic replaced Jesus Bueno.
Andre Blake manned the goal, with Frankie Westfield, Neil Pierre, Nate Harriel, and Kai Wagner once again making up the back line. Lukic was joined by Danley Jean Jacques, with Indiana Vassilev and Cavan Sullivan rounding out Philadelphia’s midfield. Bruno Damiani and Milan Iloski formed the forward pairing for their 10th consecutive match.
The bench consisted of Ben Bender, Jeremy Rafanello, Bueno, Quinn Sullivan, Ezekiel Alladoh, Japhet Sery Larsen, Geiner Martinez, Agustin Anello, and Andrew Rick.
Alejandro Bedoya, listed as questionable prior to the match, was not on the roster as he dealt with what was listed as a knee injury on the player match status report.
The home side had two chances in the first five minutes, with Julian Hall slipping in behind the defense and forcing Blake to make the save. Moments later, with the Union’s defense unable to clear the ball, Adri Mehmeti unleashed a shot that sailed over the net, but New York was setting the tempo early.
Philadelphia’s best chance in the opening 15 minutes came after Sullivan won a corner kick. While the visitors took the corner short, the Homegrown was ruled offside despite not getting the best header on goal.
Philadelphia Union struck first in the 21st minute, with Milan Iloski scoring his 11th goal of the season and his first in four matches. Indiana Vassilev and Danley Jean Jacques were credited with assists on the play. Jean Jacques’ cross skirted across the goalmouth to a wide-open Vassilev, whose shot or pass allowed Lloski tapped it home for the first goal of the match.
Indiana Vassilev was asked by media post match if he meant to shoot or pass the ball to Milan, which he did clarify to us.
“I just tried to make some good contact, and it was horrible contact,” he joked with the media about the touch. “Hit it right to the ground. But listen, I’m happy for Milan. If Milan’s scoring goals, that means that we’re we’re gonna be in a great spot come the end of the season. So I mean, I’m not really known for scoring goals. So if I can help Milan score goals and contribute, if he’s on fire towards the end of the season, like I said, I think we’ll be in a good spot. So super happy for him.”
Andre Blake then had to bail out Philadelphia a few times in the half, first on Cade Cowell, with Blake making a diving save on the play before Ronald Donkor’s attempt on the rebound went wide of the net.
Julian Hall’s attempt in the 38th minute forced Blake to stay composed to make the save after a push on Harriel was not called by referee Drew Fischer. Harriel recovered quickly enough to block Jorge Ruvalcaba’s follow-up attempt. Then, minutes later, another chance from Hall was blocked by Pierre.
The Union looked to increase their lead right before the halftime whistle, with Iloski searching for a brace, but the Red Bull defense cleared the ball off the line.
New York came out of the break with Hall’s shot hitting the post for the home side before the follow-up attempt sailed high.
Cavan Sullivan extended the Union’s lead in the 50th minute, turning his defender around just enough to create space before ripping a shot past Horvath to make it 2-0. Both Vassilev and Jean Jacques picked up their second assists of the evening on the goal.
For Sullivan, he now has a goal or assist in four straight games, becoming the third player age 18 or younger and the first 16-year-old to record a goal contribution in four straight regular season matches.
“It’s truly special when he shows up in the games. Our best games are when Danley is playing at his best,” Sullivan said. “So yeah, I’m thankful for him for playing that like great ball to me. I didn’t really have to, you know, take any steps out of my path, so it was right in my right my path. He he’s playing he’s playing well, and it was great to see him smiling and and celebrating with the team.”
On the evening Jean Jacques’s talent was on display on both sides of the ball and along with Indiana contributed two assist on the evening.
“He was an animal,” Richter said of the performance from Danley. “You know, he’s everywhere, and honestly, he’s been in this kind of run of form since since we started back. Since he came back from the World Cup, he’s been in this kind of run. So he gets the two assists tonight, and there’s so many little things that he does. So many balls he wins, so many ballsy jumps in a really good way, and I think he’s fully committed into what we’re trying to do as a team. You know, and that’s the part that I appreciate most because he’s a special player, and the way that he can make guys around him better is really impressive.”
Neil Pierre scored his fourth goal in seven matches 15 minutes later following a free kick by Iloski. Damiani got a touch on the ball, finding a running Pierre at the far post, where the Homegrown drove it home to extend Philly’s lead to 3-0. The Lebanon PA native, now has four goals and one assist during this seven match run.
On if he see set pieces as his moment to shine he had this to add.
“One hundred percent, I see every set piece as an opportunity for me to score, create a chance for my team.”
“I mean, you guys are watching the same thing I am,” Richter said. “He looks like a top center back in this league, and he has to keep pushing and keep his feet on the ground and focus in the right way, and you know, and become the best center back in this league. That should be his target, but that that’s a day to day thing that he has to keep pushing to get better and better.”
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting broke up Philly’s shutout in the 75th minute, slipping in behind the back line and pulling the Red Bulls within two goals. Mohammed Sofo and Ronald Donkor picked up the assists.
“Definitely thought we definitely dropped for a little second with the goal, and then we obviously knew like we have to pick it up, we have to focus again because they could come back and score another one,”Pierre said. “So I think it was just a mentality from the whole back line, from the whole team, and realized like let’s close this game out.”
But even with the goal swinging momentum in the home team’s favor, the Union stood tall and saw out the match for a 3-1 decision on the road, giving Richter his second road victory.
“Big credit to the guys who came in and subbed in and you know closed out the game,” Cavan Sullivan told reporters following the match. “Everybody worked hard. Everybody played a part. So yeah, everybody matters, and even the guys who didn’t come in. We said in a locker room, like huge for them to support us and bring the energy no matter what.”
With the victory, Philadelphia currently sits in 12th place in the Eastern Conference with 24 points, just one point out of ninth place and, believe it or not, only four points behind NYCFC, which currently sits in seventh place.
The belief is definitely there”, Vassilev said. “So with that belief, the mentality is we’re gonna go out there, we’re gonna you know play to our level, and we’re gonna win games because we’re good enough and capable enough. We’ve been doing that, and it’s it’s it’s honestly super fun.”
Philadelphia now has four wins in their last five matches at Sports Illustrated Stadium. More importantly, the Union got the win and kept their foot on the gas. Even after conceding, they stayed strong in order to close out the match.
The Philadelphia Union will now return home next Saturday to Subaru Park to take on CF Montréal, which, if you remember, was the opponent for Philadelphia Union’s only home victory in the first half of this season. The Montréal side will definitely be looking for payback and a better run of form following a 7-1 road loss to Inter Miami.
The match is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff and will be available to watch on Apple TV if you cannot make it to Subaru Park.
Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
The One Team We Agree On 
Leave a comment