The final regular season home game for the Philadelphia Union II took place on Saturday afternoon, with the youngest side in the MLS Next Pro welcoming Atlanta United 2 to Subaru Park. A win would take Union II to the top of the Eastern Conference standings with one game to go, depending on what FC Cincinnati 2 did on the road against NYCFC II.
Marlon LeBlanc made a few changes to his side that fought back from 3-1 down to beat NYCFC II 4-3 last Monday, with Jamir Berdecio taking back his starting right back role from Gavin Wetzel. Giovanny Sequera came into midfield for David Vazquez, who was missing from the matchday squad, and Sal Olivas replaced Markus Anderson to lead the line with top goalscorer Eddy Davis.
Union II, knowing what they needed to do in this game, piled the pressure on the visitors from the first minute, with chances from both Cavan Sullivan and Eddy Davis just going wide of the mark. These early chances woke Atlanta up and they started to get into the game but almost found themselves 1-0 down early on, Sal Olivas converted a CJ Olney cross but Olivas was deemed offside and the goal was ruled out.
Olivas had another good chance, just minutes after the disallowed goal, but his header from a Frankie Westfield cross was straight at Atlanta keeper Jayden Hibbert. The game slowed down for most of the middle part of the second half, with only a few speculative efforts happening.
It seemed like the two teams would head into the halftime break locked at 0-0 but the game saw its first goal in the 43rd minute and unfortunately for the boys in blue, it wasn’t for them. After an initial blocked shot fell to the feet of Atlanta’s Nick Firmino, Olwethu Makhanya dove into a tackle to block a shot but ended up clipping Firmino and the referee awarded the penalty. Firmino stepped up and converted the spotkick to send the visitors into a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Union II had fought back from a considerably worse position just 6 days ago against NYCFC II and so they went out at the start of the second half searching for an equaliser. Sal Olivas came close again but his effort was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Jayden Hibbert. Nick Pariano was the next player to go close, but his shot from just outside of the box skimmed the top of the bar.
With just under 15 minutes to go, and still being 1-0 down, Union II started to throw everything they could at getting a crucial equaliser. Neil Pierre went on an incredible run from his own half and found Eddy Davis with his cross, Davis then flicked it on for Cavan Sullivan who hammered his left-footed strike into the far bottom corner to equalise for Union II.
Leandro Soria had entered the game during the 2nd half and he had a golden opportunity to win the game for Marlon LeBlanc’s side as he found himself one-on-one with Jayden Hibbert. Soria, like many of his Union II teammates, couldn’t beat the Atlanta keeper and the score stayed 1-1.
As we entered the final minute of the game, it wasn’t looking great for Union II and their dreams of finishing top of the Eastern Conference standings but then, just like on Monday and quite a few other times this season, the youngest side in the league completed their comeback.
Frankie Westfield put the ball into the box, where substitute Leandro Soria won the header. After some scrambling and a little bit of head tennis, the ball fell to CJ Olney just inside the box. The young playmaker struck a sweet half volley with his right foot and found the same bottom corner as Cavan Sullivan had earlier in the game, to win the game for his side 2-1 and to send them flying into a 1-point lead at the top of the table.
Union II had done all they could to put pressure on FC Cincinnati II, whose road game against NYCFC II kicked off around 2 hours after Union II’s had finished. Cincy took the lead just after the half-hour mark through Kenji Mboma Dem but NYCFC II hit back with 3 unanswered goals through Jonathan Shore, Klevis Haxhari, and Piero Elias to beat FC Cincinnati II 3-1. Cincy had 2 men sent off in added time and NYCFC II had one sent off, which must have been for a last-minute brawl that broke out.
All this means Marlon LeBlanc’s men head into Decision Day this coming Sunday with a 1-point lead at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. They’ve already confirmed a top-2 finish as they travel to 7th place Chicago, who need points to keep their playoff berth. FC Cincinnati plays hosts to 3rd place Orlando, who claimed their playoff berth last week against Chicago but will need points to stay in 3rd place.
Image Credit: Philadelphia Union II
