The Union came off of their first loss of the 2022 season with a home game against red-hot Montreal. CF Montreal came to Subaru Park and created a late spark that left an impact. The Union dropped points at home in a 1-1 draw against Montreal. It was a result that Jim Curtin and his team were not pleased with in the slightest.
Union Dropped Points at Home
Jim Curtin spoke to the media after the home draw and gave a telling quote about how his team felt about the result
“Not a point we’re happy about. Two points dropped.”
– Jim Curtin after the Union’s 1-1 draw vs Montreal
The Union came out and played well in the first half of the match, but failed to piece together anything impressive in the second half. A first-half penalty was converted by Julian Carranza but was wasted when Philly allowed Montreal to equalize through Kei Kamara. Montreal only had one big chance and it was their goal, while Philly failed to create chances for themselves. To Curtin’s frustrations, the team had to settle with a point, and the sentiment was echoed by the team’s captain Alejandro Bedoya.
“Simply put, not good enough from us! Fans deserve much more than that 2nd half display today. Appreciate the support though. Back to the training ground to work harder, smarter, and straighten things out. Long season. Let’s gooooo!!”
Alejandro Bedoya via Twitter after the Union’s 1-1 draw vs Montreal
The fact that the Union dropped points at home doesn’t doom this team right now. However, the lack of chances created is something that is worrying and making some think of Union teams of the past. Philly has the talent to be a top team in the eastern conference and all of MLS, the one thing holding them back is displays like this one against Montreal.
While a season isn’t won or lost in a week eight matchup, if this team wants to be the best in MLS they need to have their attack create more than four shots and one big chance a game. As Bedoya and Curtin said, this team is getting back to training to get better and fix these mistakes.
Three Takeaways
While the match didn’t go Philly’s way, they still took a point and finished the season’s series against Montreal. Taking four points from a possible six verses this strong Montreal side will be handy down the road. Here are three takeaways after the Union dropped points at home to Montreal.
Carranza scores again
The Union didn’t win, but Julian Carranza scored again. The striker now has three goals on the season, and two in his last two games. He’s leading the striker core in scoring and seems to be the most in-form attacker the Union has right now.
Carranza is a perfect fit in Philly. He’s willing to make the pressing runs the Union need their forwards to make and seems to pop up in the right place when the team is looking to score. He has missed a few chances, but he’s actually getting into good spots, which frankly can’t be said about the other strikers at the moment. We’ll see if he can keep this momentum going next weekend in Nashville.
Union is still in first place
Philly dropped points on Saturday, leaving two points on the table, but they’re still finishing week eight atop the eastern conference standings. Their 17 points are three better than New York Red Bulls and Orlando City SC, who sit on 14 points. The Union are two points off the supporters shield standings as well. This team is still a great one, but there’s defeintly room for imporvement.
While the Union will be in first place heading into week nine, they will need to find their form and fast to stay there. Orlando and Red Bull are right on thier heals, and teams like Atlanta, Toronto, Montreal and NYCFC are only a few wins away for pushing for the top. With the schedule Philly faces in the coming month, there is little room for error.
A gauntlet coming up
Philadelphia head into a guantlet of a schedule in the month of May. There’s no room for dropped points from leading situations. Philly has seven matches scheduled for the month of May, and could play eight, if they can get past the Open Cup Round of 32. The scehdule sees Philly play five of the seven matches on the road in what could be the toughest stetch of the season.
Philly is the first oponant to play in NAshville’s new soccer specific stadum this coming Sunday. They then have to go to league leaders LAFC the next weekend; they follow that up with a midweek trip to Orlando for an Open Cup showdown, and then return home to take on second place in the east New York Red Bulls just four days later. They follow that up with a midweek league match agaisnt Mimai at home before going on the road to Portland. The end of May could see the Union play another midweek match in the Quarter finals of the Open Cup, and then a “rivalry” road match to New England.
The month of May is going to be tough, if this team wants to stay top of the east, and compete for top of the league, they’ll have to do what their gaffer and captain are saying and correct the mistakes to ensure less dropped points.
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Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union, Andrew Zwarych
