CHESTER, Pa.— 13 games unbeaten. Seven game winning streak. What a run the Philadelphia Union have been on since the World Cup break under the direction of Ryan Richter. With a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at Subaru Park on Saturday evening, Richter became the first head coach in MLS history to go unbeaten in his first 13 matches. It may not have been the prettiest of wins, but the team continues to show belief as arguably the hottest team in MLS.
With the international window over, five key members of the squad returned, and the lineup reverted to what has been Richter’s most-used starting eleven. Back in net after his stint with Jamaica was captain Andre Blake. Frankie Westfield and Neil Pierre returned to their posts at right back and center back, respectively, and Cavan Sullivan to the midfield after making their USMNT debuts. Nathan Harriel and Kai Wagner rounded out the back line.
After returning from duty with the Haitian national team, Danley Jean Jacques partnered with Jovan Lukic at defensive mid. Indiana Vassilev lined up opposite Sullivan, with Milan Iloski and Bruno Damiani once again forming the striker partnership.
The match was barely underway when Danley was shown a yellow for a foul in the 2nd minute. Shortly after, Blake came up with a fantastic save on Stijn Spierings’s shot, and Sergi Solans was caught offside in the followup.
In the Union’s first corner, delivered by Iloski, Westfield nearly had a phenomenal header for a goal, but it just went over. The home side got a prime set piece opportunity when DeAndre Yedlin was shown a yellow card in the 13th minute for a foul just outside the box, but Iloski’s shot went wide. RSL responded with a counter after a turnover, but the defense was able to get back and run interference, with Dominik Marczuk’s shot sailing over.
Westfield got tripped up in the box, but the referee let play go on—which appeared to be the correct call—much to the displeasure of the very vocal crowd at Subaru Park. Moments later, Westfield was shown a yellow for a foul in the 23rd minute. The early going was marked by a decent amount of whistles and stoppages, and battles in the midfield and the RSL half.
“Worried a little bit because you know a play can happen where a guy’s out in transition and a foul comes and it can be a second yellow,” Richter related about the early bookings. “But I think you know, they’re both pros and and they know how to manage that and they did a good job to to finish the game in the way they did and not pick up that second yellow.”
The Union finally broke through after a superb buildup that showcased the chemistry between Sullivan, Westfield, and Damiani. Sullivan dribbled along the edge of the box before slipping the ball to Westfield, who then found Damiani with a cross following a dummy by Iloski. The Uruguayan striker finished expertly to give the Union a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute for his eighth goal of the season, all since the World Cup break. It was also Westfield’s 10th assist.
For the man who had been a record signing, the first half of the season was frustrating for Damiani, but now he is in form and also finding that chemistry with Iloski, which he discussed:
“Well, we took a long time to get a chemistry. I think I had the same process last year, maybe with Tai [Baribo] and with Mika [Uhre]. He’s a different player. He’s more like shooting from everywhere, actually. He has a really good shot from outside the box, and I think that’s why it got hard for me to get some chemistry with him because I’m also, like, waiting to have the chance. But those kind of dummies, we’re doing it often. We’re talking a lot in the games about the pressure, about how to do it, and we’re both in a really good momentum. I think we need to enjoy that because it’s not easy to get that chemistry with another striker that is also kind of a finisher, and yeah, just enjoying that.”
The rest of the half saw mostly opportunities for the Union, who looked very connected and had some prime chances around the box. Harriel was phenomenal shoring up the defense, and was able to negate several of the threats brought by RSL, who only managed two shots in the first half.
RSL made two halftime substitutions and brought more pressure early in the second half, though the defense came up with some big plays. Dominik Marczuk was shown a yellow for getting in the way of a free kick in the 62nd minute that came after the Union had a promising run stopped by a foul.
Richter made his first substitution in the 64th minute, replacing Vassilev with Quinn Sullivan, who shortly after sent a ball in that was batted away by Rafael Cabral. Damiani followed with a shot that was deflected out for a corner, and Cavan saw a promising shot go wide. RSL nearly countered moments later via Solans, but Blake made a fantastic save to preserve the lead. Pierre, who had gone to ground in an effort to block Solans, was down for a moment, getting up gingerly but continuing.
Blake made another save on a shot near the post by Saba Lobjanidze as RSL continued to bring some pressure. Richter went to his bench once again, replacing Lukic with Jesús Bueno in the 74th minute. Wagner then came up with a superb block on Solans as the RSL striker broke through.
Bueno was the next booking for a foul, just five minutes into his shift. The Union continued to push for another goal, and finally found it in an interesting sequence of events.
Westfield received the ball just outside the box and ripped a shot that was saved by Cabral, who deflected it into a scrum of Union players. Cavan played the ball right into Iloski, who finished it into the goal after a touch from Damiani. Initially, the goal was called off, but the Union players were confident it was indeed a goal. Iloski motioned toward the crowd to get them loud, and the packed house responded emphatically.
“You know, the fans are starting to get a little frustrated, a little aggravated, I think, and you know, as player we are too, but I’m probably the only one who knows it’s not handball,” Iloski shared postgame about getting the fans hyped up. “So I’m getting everyone going, getting the ref also a little bit, you know, a little bit of pressure on him from the fans. So they did a great job.”
After a VAR check regarding a possible handball and offside, the goal was awarded to make it 2-0. That would, in the end, prove crucial.
As seven minutes of stoppage time commenced thanks to the lengthy delay for the review of the goal, Ben Bender, Milak Jakupovic, and Alejandro Bedoya replaced Cavan, Iloski, and Danley as the Union looked to see out a winning result.
RSL had been stymied all match long by the Union’s defense, but finally broke through. With about a minute left of stoppage, Lobjanidze scored after a defensive lapse, denying the Union the clean sheet.
“I’m just happy tonight that I was able to make a few saves when I was called upon,” Blake shared after the match. “Obviously, kind of disappointed to give up a goal late in the in the game. You know, I felt like we did enough to to get a shutout. But again, you know, perspective. You know, I was able to make a a couple saves and we won the game.”
Kai Wagner had some big plays, as did the back line, and made sure Blake did not have a lot of work to do. Wagner noted, “The second goal just opened a lot, and I think it also opened the game a little bit more, where we had to dig in deep in the second half. But I think we defended great. Still pretty mad about the goal what we conceded, but a win is a win.”
The Union played a tense last minute, but in the end saw it out to continue to rewrite the club’s record for unbeaten streak (now 13). For Cavan Sullivan, who was credited with two assists (“hockey” assists that not everyone will want to recognize, but MLS does), it was a new MLS record for single-season goal contributions by a teenager (21) and he leads the league in assists.
While Richter did not think it was the younger Sullivan’s best game, he thought he was solid and remarked about his contributions:
“Even in a game where he wasn’t, you know, electric in the way that he has been in most games, he still has a hand in the first goal for the assist, and then he kind of makes the play that leads to the action for the second goal. So even when it’s not everything’s not coming off perfect, and it’s difficult also with a team that sits deep with this many numbers behind the ball, there’s not as much space to kind of operate, and you know he still finds a way to to create both goals that we scored tonight.”
A huge part of the success on the night was the play of Jovan Lukic, who has been half of a tremendous pairing with Danley Jean Jacques.
Richter thought highly of Lukic’s play, noting, “He’s sharp on the ball and he can kind of help dictate the tempo in the way that we attack, and I think the most important thing is that him and Danley complement each other so well. The way that they both play the game, it’s different, but they complement each other really well, and and they read each other’s movements. He’s in form right now, and I think he’s enjoying the way he’s playing. He’s enjoying his game, and he has to keep playing like this because he’s doing great.”
Richter, while pleased with getting the win, knew it was not their best performance and they will need to work on some things ahead of their match at Chicago Fire on Wednesday. As it has been since he took over, the focus is one game at a time.
“Of course it’s great to get another win at home, which I think tonight probably wasn’t our best performance of the season,” Richter said in his postgame press conference. “But we had stretched in the game when we were really good, and like I said, we didn’t play our best game, but we did enough to win the game. We played hard, played as a team, and in the end, under some pressure, but we survived it. And proud of the guys, proud of the group, and now we have to turn around for Chicago on Wednesday.”
For more great match photos, please visit:
Main article photo credit: Emily Wallace-Sutton
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