After a 1-0 defeat to the Columbus Crew on Sunday Night Soccer, the Philadelphia Union’s 13-game unbeaten streak across all competitions has ended. It’s the U’s first loss since April 12th, a 1-0 loss on the road to NYCFC, 79 days ago.
In a match that featured multiple MLS debuts, some frustration with the referee, and an hour-long weather delay, the Crew’s Mo Farsi netted the lone goal just before half-time to secure all three points for Columbus. This puts them right on the Union’s tail in the Eastern Conference standings.
Starting XI for Short Handed Union
Once again, the Union came into Sunday’s match shorthanded, missing a handful of players to injury, a couple to International Duty, and one to suspension. Nate Harriel and Quinn Sullivan were with the USMNT at the Gold Cup, while Tai Baribo, Mikael Uhre, Frankie Westfield, Ian Glavinovich, and Olivier Mbaizo were all not fit enough to play. Jakob Glesnes was also out of Sunday’s match due to a yellow card suspension.
Andre Blake was back between the posts for the first time in a month, while Markus Anderson and Ben Bender both made their second-ever MLS start for the Blue and Gold. Jovan Lukic and Ale Bedoya were both on the team, but both played out of position to help Bradley Carnell fill out a short-handed squad.
Union Starting XI:
GK: Blake
RB: Bedoya, CB: Makhanya, CB: Lukic, LB: Wagner
CDM: Danley, CDM: Bueno
CAM: Bender, CAM: Vassilev
ST: Damiani, ST: Anderson
Farsi finds the back of the net just before half-time
Despite being shorthanded, playing on the road, and Ale Bedoya being given a yellow card 10 seconds (literally) into the game, the Union played a pretty decent 45 minutes. But just before the half-time break in the 47th minute, Mo Farsi put the Crew up 1-0 when he put away a cross from opposite wingback Lassi Lappalainen with a first-time finish.
A through-ball sent Lappalainen behind Ale Bedoya, who was playing out of position at Right Back. Lappalainen delivered a perfect ball into the middle of the penalty area for only Farsi to get on the end of. Kai Wagner fell asleep just a bit, which allowed Farsi to get in scoring position and give Columbus the lead before the break.
Frustration with Referee, Filip Dujic
Everybody’s least favorite person to talk about in a match, the referee, was one of the talking points after last night’s 1-0 loss to the Crew.
Dujic set the tone for the game when he showed Ale Bedoya a yellow card 10 seconds into the contest after Bedoya pulled back an attacker down the left sideline.
Frustration with the 31-year-old Canadian referee grew when Union’s Kai Wagner had his free kick blocked multiple times by a Crew player standing within 10 yards of him. Was this deliberate on Wagner’s part? Absolutely. But there’s a case to be made from Wagner and the Union’s perspective when it happens three, four, or five times in a match.
The annoyance really set in when Union’s all-time leading goal scorer, Daniel Gazdag, who had just been shown yellow a few minutes before for a slide tackle on Danley Jean-Jacques, left his studs up on a collision between him and Ale Bedoya in the midfield, which had Union protesting for Gazdag’s sending off. Dujic and VAR had no interest in intervening on the play, and Gazdag escaped a 2nd Yellow and what some think could have been called a straight Red.
Union failed to test Bush
Tonight wasn’t the first time this Philly team has been shorthanded, and they seemingly find ways to collect points every time they are. But it finally caught up to them in Columbus, much of that down to the lack of scoring opportunities generated by the Blue and Gold on Sunday night.
Despite 39-year-old backup Evan Bush being in the net for the Crew on Sunday night, the young and rotated Philadelphia Union failed to test the veteran keeper a single time during their 1-0 loss, putting zero of their six attempted shots on frame.
As the famous quote goes, “You can’t win if you don’t score.”
Milestone Debuts for Union Homegrowns
Being so short-handed, Bradley Carnell didn’t have much to go to on the bench in terms of experience, which, despite the loss, created a nice milestone moment for a couple of the Union Academy Homegrown products.
In the 63rd minute, 18-year-old Sal Olivas made his Major League Soccer debut for Philadelphia when he checked into the game for Bruno Damiani.
Nine minutes later in the 71st, 19-year-old midfielder David Vazquez made his MLS debut for the Blue and Gold when he was subbed into the game for Indy Vassilev.
The milestone moment for two young Homegrown products comes just a few days after 18-year-old Eddy Davis made his MLS debut against the Chicago Fire.
Sal, David, and Eddy, as well as all their parents, family members, and coaches, deserve a huge congratulations for helping them achieve this goal along the way. It is a wonderful moment to celebrate despite a disappointing result in Columbus.
Up Next For The Union
The loss moves Union’s record for the 2025 season to 12W-4D-4L for a total of 40 points, good enough to put them top of both the Eastern Conference and Supporters Shield standings after 20 games.
Bradley Carnell’s side will now turn their focus to another difficult game on the road in Music City against Golden Boot leader Sam Surridge and Nashville SC, who are on a 13-game unbeaten streak.
Philadelphia’s fans will be waiting for Bradley Carnell’s mid-week press conference to hear whether a few injured players are fit enough to play in a big Eastern Conference showdown next Saturday night.
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Featured Image Credit: Philadelphia Union
