Philadelphia Union keeps 2nd consecutive clean sheet in 3-0 victory over DC United: “It’s by no means a final, polished product – but we’re working every day at it.”

Thanks to goals from Jakob Glesnes, Danley Jean-Jacques, and Bruno Damiani, the Philadelphia Union notched their second consecutive win and clean sheet after beating DC United 3-0 at Subaru Park on Saturday afternoon.

It’s the Union’s sixth win of the season, which the Blue and Gold didn’t reach until July 20th in their 2024 campaign. It marks their fifth clean sheet of 2025, just three fewer than their total all of last year.

“It was a very tough game, very tough first half for us, and we had to weather a couple storms, and we kind of knew exactly what they were going to offer us, and they played exactly according to that, but I don’t think we dealt very well with it in the first half. We just corrected a few things in the 2nd half and showed a little bit of film of how we can mitigate some of the damage and limit it.” – Bradley Carnell on Union’s 3-0 win against DC United.

Starting XI

Carnell’s side came with a few changes compared to the starting XI we saw last week against Atlanta United. Jovan Lukić, who received a red card last weekend, was replaced by Jesús Bueno in the midfield, making his first start of the 2025 season.

Tai Baribo, who scored his league-leading 7th goal of the season off the bench last weekend, was rewarded with the start against DC, while the rest of the side remained unchanged from last weekend.

“He [Bueno] sured things up a little bit, he gives us a few different pictures than what Danley or Lukić gives us, so I think it’s good to get him minutes. I know we have a big, big month coming up ahead, and that’s why we gave a couple more guys a couple more runs just to get them minutes and get them exposed to this type of level” – Bradley Carnell on Jesus Bueno’s first start of the season.

Formation: 4-2-2-2

GK: Blake
RB: Westfield, CB: Glesnes, CB: Harriel, LB: Wagner
CDM: Danley, CDM: Bueno
CAM: Q. Sullivan, CAM: Vassilev
ST: Baribo, ST: Uhre

Glesnes Volley Gives Union a 1-0 Lead

15 minutes into the game, Jakob Glesnes’ first goal of the year gave Union an early 1-0 lead in front of the home crowd. Flying into the box from a Frankie Westfield cross, the ball met Jakob Glesnes’ boot with a right-footed volley that he placed neatly into the top right corner of the net.

Frankie Westfield, who sent the ball into the middle of the penalty area from Barraza’s left, gets credit for the assist on the play that gave Union its early lead. This is his second helper of the campaign.

Blake Keeps Union on Top in First Frame

Coming off the 100th clean sheet of his career last weekend against Atlanta, Andre Blake was tested a few times in the first half by a Benteke-less DC United. Jacob Murrel got the first big opportunity of the game for DC in the 25th minute with a bicycle attempt from around the penalty spot, but his attempt sailed just over the bar.

Dom Badji got a pair of chances in the 28th and 30th minutes, but his first attempt was too put over the net, and his 2nd chance from a header didn’t generate enough power to trouble Blake. Murrel got another opportunity to tie the game on a breakaway in the 40th minute. Still, Blake handled the shot at him easily, and the rebound was cleared to safety to keep Union on top heading into the break.

Danley’s Dazzling Goal Doubles DOOP’s Lead

In the 51st minute and just after the half-time break, Danley Jean-Jacques doubled Union’s lead after receiving the ball in the midfield, nutmegging the oncoming defender, and kissing a left-footed skidding shot from outside the 18 off the post to Barraza’s left and into the back of the net.

The goal, which resulted from good defensive structure in the midfield, was Danley’s 2nd of the season, both coming in the last two games.

“In the first half I thought there was too much space between those lines [between Danley and Bueno], and that’s one of the things we corrected in the first half, but then the tighter we are, the closer we are, the more compact we are, we can create mistakers and force turnovers in transition and then our 6’s, 10’s – they get rewarded. That’s probably the big adjustment.” – Bradley Carnell on the play that led to Danley’s goal.

Damiani seals 3 Points with 3rd Goal

Already up 2-0, Union’s record-signing, Bruno Damiani, found the back of the net in the 77th minute to secure all three points. A ball played over the top by Jakob Glesnes was headed on by Mikael Uhre and into the path of Bruno Damiani.

Damiani collected the ball and felt the pressure on his back. He turned successfully towards the net and buried the scoring opportunity, his second of the season.

The assist from Mikael Uhre is his second of the season, and both have come in the last two games.

2nd Consecutive Clean Sheet and #101 for Andre Blake

After notching the 100th clean sheet of his career last weekend, Andre Blake was tested again on Saturday afternoon, making five stops in Union’s 3-0 win against DC United. The Union’s 5th and Blake’s 4th clean sheet of the season make Andre Blake the second fastest player to reach 80 regular season clean sheets in MLS history.

“Keeping the clean sheet is probably the icing on the cake and the cherry on top as well. 5 clean sheets in 10 – really happy with the squad’s performance.” – Bradley Carnell on Union’s defensive performance.

Union’s Dominance over DC

Union’s 3-0 win on Saturday improves Union’s record against DC United to 11 wins, three draws, and one loss in their previous 15 meetings. During this stretch, Union has outscored its I-95 rivals by 43 goals-for to 13 goals-against.

Their three goals on Saturday afternoon push their total against DC to 79 goals scored all-time, more goals than they’ve scored against any other team in club history.

The Union’s six wins, one draw, and three losses have earned them 19 points and placed them in third place in the Eastern Conference heading into Sunday’s final games of Matchday 10.

“It’s massive, we want to win our home games and get points on the road, and I think that’s the key to success and the key to a good start, an excellent start to the season, and I think we’re on the right track. I still think there’s things that we showed in the first half that we can do better, it’s by no means a final, polished product, and we’re working every day at it” – Bradley Carnell on the win against DC.