CHESTER, Pa. — It was a beautiful Labor Day weekend along the banks of the Delaware River as the Philadelphia Union and CF Montreal faced each other on Saturday evening, with both clubs looking to keep pace in the MLS Eastern Conference playoff race as the Union played host at a packed Subaru Park.
And while the evening might not have been the Chester club’s best performance during its recent run of form, a strong second half, goals from Danley Jean Jacques and Cavan Sullivan, plus a clutch save from Andre Blake and timely defensive stops preserved a 2-0 win, with the club now picking up three points in six of their last eight matches.
“It was important, of course, for us to get the win at home, ” interim head coach Ryan Richter told reporters post match. “I didn’t think it was our best performance as a team, but sometimes in nights like this, when everything is not coming off exactly the way that you planned, you also have to have an ugly way of winning. The first goal was Danley staying with the play, good first good ball from Kai, the header back from Nathan, and then Danley to stay with the play to find a way to get into the net. And then in the second goal, a great run from Milan and touch to cut across the defender, and then Cavan to stay with the play and be in position where he can find the ball when it falls to him.”
“And overall, also on the night, you need sometimes you need a little bit of luck and you need Andre Blake to to stand tall, and he did in a couple really big moments. And so overall, yeah, not a perfect performance, but but another win at home, and you know we have to keep this going in the right direction, and again, keep trying to improve as a team and not be satisfied just with the result.”
Prior to the match, the club honored its annual Fearless 43 as part of its Kick Childhood Cancer event, as it has since 2019. The club partners with the Kisses for Kyle Foundation to honor 43 local pediatric cancer patients and their families.
Ryan Richter went with the same lineup as the last match, with Andre Blake, Nate Harriel, Neil Pierre, Frankie Westfield, Kai Wagner, Jovan Lukic, Danley Jean Jacques, Cavan Sullivan, Indiana Vassilev, Bruno Damiani, and Milan Iloski.
The bench for Philly consisted of Japhet Sery Larsen, Jesus Bueno, Alejandro Bedoya, Ben Bender, Jeremy Rafanello, Ezekiel Alladoh, Quinn Sullivan, Malik Jakupovic, and Andrew Rick.
Prince Owusu had an easy tap-in early, stunning the home crowd 96 seconds into the match. The attacking play started after Wagner slipped, allowing Montreal to begin the attack down the right with Hennadii Synchuk, eventually leading to the goal.
Following a quick VAR recommendation, referee Chris Penso confirmed that Prince was, in fact, in an offside position. The goal being called back did not deter the visitors, as they pressed the Boys in Blue early and often through the opening five minutes of the match.
Moments later, Jovan Lukic received the first yellow card of the match for a hard foul on Montreal’s Fabian Herbers.
The Union began to mount a few chances, with Cavan once again being a vital piece of the creation early and often. A few were missing the final touch from Iloski or Damiani, but the home side definitely started building back into the match 15 minutes in.
“I think first 15 minutes, we knew they had a long week last week, and we wanted to come out with energy and really put it on them early, but no, it didn’t happen,” Westfield said about the start of the match for Philadelphia. “They got an early goal, which thankfully was called offsides, and I think that kind of woke us up a little bit, and still from there we still had chances to to build and to score goal even. But I think just the start of the game and that offsides goal kind of woke us up a little bit. But from there I think it was fine. We started to pick it up a little bit, and then thankfully in the second half we were able to capitalize.”
In the 22nd minute, Wagner took a free kick that switched the field as Alexis Sanchez floated more toward the middle of the pitch, leaving Westfield wide open and allowing the homegrown to dribble down and send a pass that ended up creating a scoring chance that squeaked just wide of the net as neither forward could connect with the ball.
Philadelphia was then booked after Damiani fouled Owusu, giving the Canadian side a free kick, which the Union cleared.
Samuel Piette and Westfield collided while challenging for the ball as the match started becoming more physical. While Piette picked up a yellow card on the play, Penso awarded the visitors a free kick, which led to a corner kick. Owusu was able to win the contested header, but it sneaked just over the crossbar.
Cavan Sullivan was awarded a free kick after a foul by Fabian Herbers following the two getting tangled up. Iloski played the attempt short to Bruno, who flicked it to Wagner on the run into space, with Wagner rocketing a shot just wide right of the frame.
As the first half entered the final five minutes, both Westfield and Sullivan ripped shots on net. Westfield followed his attempt with a cross that Damiani mistimed, sending a wide-open shot wide in what was arguably the Union’s best attempt of the half.
During halftime, the Fearless 43 were honored with a standing ovation from the fans in attendance.
Former Philadelphia Union homegrown Brandan Craig subbed in for Jalen Neal as the second half started, with Philadelphia winning a corner that led to a wonderful chance from Iloski that was deflected before Kai had a shot saved off the following corner. Iloski had another shot seconds later that again was saved, leading to three quality chances that Philadelphia could not convert to open the half.
Philadelphia struck first in the 57th minute following a Dawid Bugaj challenge on Vassilev, which earned Bugaj a yellow card. The free-kick delivery from Wagner found Danley for a prime chance, but the Haitian had his first shot blocked which he was able to recover. On his second attempt, however, he connected with the ball and put it past Breza to the roar of the crowd.
Montreal had a chance to draw even moments later after Chris Penso awarded the Canadian side a penalty following a Neil Pierre foul on Synchuk just inside the box, giving Montreal a chance to equalize. Kai Wagner was booked by Penso as well following the foul.
Andre Blake, though, stood tall against Prince Owusu, who tried a stutter-step attempt that went right to Andre, who did not flinch. Assuredly, Prince would tell you he’d like that attempt back.
“I think the timing of saving it was good,” Blake told media after the match. “We got the crowd in the game, being able to go up the field and get a second goal a little bit after was massive for us. You know, give us a little bit of insurance and you know kept us going.”
“Props to Dre,” Frankie told reporters. “He stood his ground, made a great save. I think he kind of messed with his head a little bit, which is good. But if you look at me and everybody else, we’re jumping up and down because that’s bigger than a goal, honestly. We were up 1-0, and the momentum changed from that.”
“And obviously, you know, Neil… Neil, he did step on his foot. It was a debatable call, but at the end of the day, Dre came up big for us, and he had a great game as well. A couple of big saves after that, but he kept us in the game.”
While the Jamaican goalkeeper only had to make two saves on the evening and faced only five shots from CF Montreal, his leadership has been on display over this run, coming up with big saves in key moments time and time again.
“He’s one of the best strikers in the league,” Richter said of Owusu. “I think the guys did a good job on him. You know, a couple moments in his holdup. I mean, he’s a good player, you know, and he’s also playing the game. So you expect a couple moments where he’s going to make a play, and that’s the moment where, yeah, we need Andre or we need Nathan to come up with a big tackle. We need Neil to come up with a big tackle. And in the moments that yeah, he normally can make the difference. We end up coming up with the play.”
Jesús Bueno subbed in for Lukic and Quinn Sullivan for Vassilev for the first substitutions of the evening for the Boys in Blue.
Philadelphia added to their lead, with Cavan Sullivan capitalizing on a loose ball that he buried. The play started with a Danley dummy to Damiani, who flicked it on to spring Milan one-on-one with Montreal’s keeper. However, the club’s leading scorer was not able to finish, but Sullivan’s hustle was the difference, as he has now scored in three straight matches for the first time in his young career.
Following the goal, Cavan celebrated by doing the LeBron James celebration, throwing chalk in the air as the NBA superstar is known for doing.
“I was waiting to do that for a while,” Sullivan joked with the media about his celebration. “So I had I had Kim, our photographer, holding the chalk for multiple games. Yeah, I just kept missing out on it, or I was away. And then tonight, great crowd. I figured it was the perfect time.”
Sullivan became the youngest player and first teenager to record a goal contribution in five consecutive games. He now also holds the record for most goal contributions by a player 16 or younger, passing Freddy Adu.
The second group of subs from Richter and his staff were Alladoh for Iloski and Bedoya for Cavan after another impressive night from the youngster.
Cavan’s older brother then had two chances late to perhaps add a third for the home side in the final 10 minutes of the match, though one sailed high of the net and the other shot was saved.
Bueno picked up a yellow card in the 90th minute, and Malik Jakupovic checked in as Philadelphia’s final sub of the evening for Bruno, with seven minutes of stoppage time announced.
Alladoh gave a simple feed to Quinn at the top of the 18 that was saved by Breza to keep the deficit at two. On the final play of the match, Jakupovic was taken down in the box. It looked like the players fell into each other more than anything, but Penso had a look before restarting play.
Ultimately, for Philadelphia, it was the strong second half that propelled the club to picking up 20 points out of a possible 24 in eight matches, enough to push the Union into the MLS playoff picture at the end of the evening’s matches, with the club currently in ninth place.
“There was a lot of chattering because we know that it wasn’t our best, but also that the way they played is quite interesting,” Blake mentioned when asked about the mood in the locker room following the contest. “And it wasn’t easy, you know. They play a man-for-man game, so it was it was very unique in the way they played, and we know that we just need to find a way to figure out how to break them down, but you know you’re gonna have games like these where it’s difficult, different tests, and I’m just happy that we were able to to find a way to to get some goals. You know, a win is a win.”
But with two matches next week and two of the next three on the road, the squad still has work to do if they wants to maintain or improve their place in the standings after a slow first half.
“It’s great, coming off of that terrible first part of the year, where we felt like we couldn’t get any points, and now it’s eight unbeaten,” Sullivan said. Yeah, like I said, it wasn’t a pretty game, but winning uglies is huge, and I guess that’s what we do, you know.”
One other note from the evening: this outing extended the Union’s streak of having a teenager score or assist in a match to nine matches, marking the longest such streak in MLS history.
Philadelphia returns home on Wednesday to face FC Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. in another pivotal Eastern Conference match. Cincinnati’s match with D.C. United was postponed due to weather, so the club will come into Chester well-rested for another exciting match in the series between the two sides, one with which Richter has history.
“It’s huge, I don’t know if the guys still feel it, but at least you know my time in the first team,” Richter said about facing Cincinnati on Wednesday. “They were always a rival for us, like a friendly rival because of the guys that have been part of this club before going to Cincinnati, and a lot of people like Pat [Noonan] and Chris [Albright] who who helped me out personally through my career as a player and coach, and yeah, it’s a friendly rivalry, but it’s a chance for us against a really good team at home to show that we can compete with the the next level of teams in the Eastern Conference.”
The match will be available on Apple TV if you are unable to attend in person.
Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.
Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union.
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