Saturday afternoon brought along another MLS Next Pro gameday the Philadelphia Union II and one they deperately needed to win after losing their previous 3 games, dropping from the top spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time since almost the very start of the league campaign.
Union II had a big opportunity on Saturday
Union II welcomed Chicago Fire II to Subaru Park on Saturday, with Chicago just 3 points behind Philly in the standings, so the 3 points were massively important to both sides. Marlon LeBlanc changed his side around from the last game, with David Vazquez returning to the starting XI after his international duty.
Cavan Sullivan, CJ Olney, and Frankie Westfield all featured, with Sanders Ngabo dropping to the bench. Leandro Soria and Sal Olivas led the line upfront after Markus Anderson suffered an injury in the last game and top goalscorer Eddy Davis was absent on a two-week trial period with Danish Superliga side Lyngby.
Captain Kyle Tucker was missing from the squad after the sad news of his father’s passing was announced before kickoff, the thoughts and deep condolences of myself and everyone at PSN are with Kyle and his family at this very sad time.
Philadelphia Union II vs Chicago Fire II Game recap
There was almost an instant goal from Union II after the kickoff, with Chicago’s goalkeeper firing the ball into Leandro Soria but the keeper managed to recover well to stop the striker from capitalizing on the mistake. Soria went close again on the 10th-minute mark, but the defender made a solid block to stop the shot from troubling the goalkeeper.
Mike Sheridan then turned into a massive hero for Union II mid-way through the first half after he made two massive saves in the space of 6 minutes, one from a counterattack where he was quick off his line, and the other from a shot I thought was destined to find the back of the net.
Sadly for Philly, Chicago was destined to find the back of the net during this game, and 6 minutes after Sheridan’s 2nd quality save is when they found it. After a fantastic through ball that completely split Union II’s defense, Peter Soudan went around the goalie and slotted home to put the visitors 1-0 up.
It looked like Chicago would enter the halftime break a goal up over Philly but Leandro Soria, with just a couple minutes left of the half, had other ideas. After Vazquez picked the ball up from a diagonal ball over the top, he put in a fantastic cross and Soria was on the end of it to bundle home the equaliser.
The 2nd half started and Marlon LeBlanc’s men piled on the pressure early, winning free kicks around the box and they finally converted one of their early 2nd half chances. Cavan Sullivan produced some wonderful play down the right wing and found Leandro Soria, wide open at the back post, who headed home for his 2nd of the game.
Mike Sheridan made another two fantastic stops just after Union II took the lead to keep his team’s lead intact. Sheridan has played really well, for the most part, since stepping into the starting role after Andrew Rick joined the senior team.
67 minutes in and Union II were on top, although Chicago was looking very dangerous on the counter-attack. LeBlanc made a change, with Gavin Wetzel coming off for Randy Meneses. Around 5 minutes later Cavan Sullivan was the one coming off, being replaced by Nick Pariano.
Union II went close to a third, and a goal that would have put the game to bed, when they hit Chicago on the counter, but CJ Olney’s shot was sent over the bar. 85 minutes into the game andbrace scorer Leandro Soria was taken off, with Diego Rocio the one replacing him. Union dominated the ball since taking the lead and were keeping it with no issue. A few minutes from the end and Chicago looked to be on a dangerous counter but an unbelievable last-ditch tackle from Carlos Rojas stopped any chance Chicago had from finding a late equaliser.
David Vazquez, after chopping inside and past a defender, smashed home a third in stoppage time to round the game out and snap a 3-game losing streak. Chicago instantly went from the kick off and scored to make the last few seconds quite nervy but LeBlanc’s men held on for a 3-2 win, a massive 3 points, and a win that snaps Union II’s 3 game losing streak.
Image Credit: Philadelphia Union II
