Brotherly Game Archive
Game Thread: Philadelphia Union 0 Columbus Crew 0, Final
The U picked up a point on the road in Columbus to open the MLS season
Updates
90+5’ – Final Whistle. Union earn a point on the road. However their goal struggles in Ohio continues as it is a clean sheet for both teams.
90+4’ – Santos from in the box once again shoots the ball near post, but Room saves it with his foot.
90+2’ – Union earn a corner after a shot by Santos. It amounts to nothing.
90’ – Four minutes is all the stands between the players and the end of the match.
89’ – Corner was easily handled by Columbus. Bedoya earns a yellow card after a late clip on Matan.
88’ – Bedoya with a left shot from distance, sending Room to save the shot giving the U a corner.
88’ – Santos who was limbing around is getting subbed off for Columbus.
86’ – Each team now has a player down on the field after Santos and Wagner collide. Santos is now being treated by Columbus’ staff.
85’ – Union with another corner here. Monteiro sends it to the near post, where the Union sends it over the post.
82’ – Free kick at the top of the right side. Black stretches to make a save off a close range shot. Also Zardes is subbed out for Eright-Phillips.
81’ – WHAT A BLOCK by Glesnes, in the air and uses his feet to block the ball. That will be a highlght everyone is going to be looking at this week.
79’ – Union doing a lot of wonders here in the attacking third, they’ve created a few chances.
75’ – Stupid yellow here on Santos after a called foul for shoulder to shoulder that he won.
70’ – Philly is finally getting into their style of play. Also the crowd is now booing anytime Monteiro touches the ball.
67’ – Kitchen using his ams again to drag down Monteiro, who his the ground. The boys in blue surrounding the ref to try and have him issue another Yellow Card to Kitchen. Training staff is also now on the field. Bedoya continues to have a discussion with the ref.
65’ – Columbus makes their first sub here, brings on Etienne for Diaz (YC).
65’ – Free Kick from the right side of the field was floated to the top left of the box. The ball is then crossed to Bedoya who drills the post.
64’ – Kitchen needs to keep his arms down. This time he drils Przybylko on the head, earning the Union a free kick. It also earned Kitchen a yellow card.
63’ – Columbus with another good run in the final third and sends a shot on goal. The shot is saved by Blake.
62’ – Union Sub: Santos comes on for Fontana who had a quiet night.
60’ – Hard and late challenge by Monteiro on Kitchen, which earns Monteiro a yellow card.
59’ – Blake is in mid season form here with a BIG save to keep the game leveled.
56’ – Diaz taks down Wagner again here, then shoves him back to the ground. Diaz enters the refs book with a yellow card.
54’ – Perry Kitchen’s arm goes off of Mbaizo’s face and he goes down. No call from the ref here as Mbaizo gestures an elbow.
53’ – Once again the Sun playing havoc here as the shade now is covering about 99% of the field. The cross is played really short and goes out for a goal kick.
52’ – Crew on the attack here, Glesnes is able to poke the ball away but it goes out for a Corner from the right side.
50’ – Flach with a direct shoot on Columbus’ goal from outside the box and it is saved by Room.
49’- Deflected shot inside the box and Blake stretches out to keep the game leveled.
45’- Second Half underway with no changes made.
Half Time Stats
Philadelphia Union
Shots – 8
Shots on Goal – 2
Possession – 55%
Fouls -7
Yellow Cards – 1
Columbus Crew
Shots – 6
Shots on Goal – 3
Possession – 45%
Fouls – 3
Yellow Cards – 0
45’- We have Halftime in Columbus. Teams head to the locker room at 6:48 PM. What was everyone’s take on the first half?
45+2’ – Flach goes down and draws a foul near the left corner flag. Monteiro delivers it into the box to Bedoya, but it goes out for a goal kick.
45+1’ – We will have four minutes of stoppage time here in the first. Buckle up because Columbus has been back on the attack here in the final minutes of the half.
44’ – Oh man, that was almost bad for the Union. Columbus gets a nice touch in the final third and Blake comes running out to make the save.
41’ – Zelarayan’s shot is right at Blake who catches it. Goal kick for the Union coming up.
39’ – VAR check complete, ref calls off the penalty kick and issues a yellow card to Glesnes. Now we have a free kick from what at the top of the penalty box.
37’ – Late point to the spot. There is contact that looks to be outside the shot as Glesnes takes down Santos. Looks like we have a VAR call here, as the ref is now going to look at the play as well.
34’ – Pray to the Crossbar gods! They kept Columbus off the board as Zelarayan’s right footed shot skims off the top of the crossbar.
33’ – Union needing to play over the press, tries to switch up the attack by sending it from the right side to the left side of the field but it is too long for anyone to get on the end of the ball.
29’ – Wagner takes the corner and crosses it towards the middle of the penalty area, which goes out for a goal kick.
28’ – Scrappy back and forth at the top right side of the penalty area, with the ball going back and forth between Union and Columbus players. Eventually a shot is taken and goes out for a Union Corner from the left flag.
25’ – Check completed and there was not enough evidence for a penalty after Elliott gets tangled up with Diaz in the penalty box.
19’ – Second corner here for the Union. This time it is from the right flag. It is crossed into a wide open Przybylko who gets a great head on it, but Room makes a great save to keep the game level at 0.
16’ – Union attacking from the right wing and the ball is blocked as they get close to the box.
11’ – Union corner from the left flag, it is also from the shadow into the sun. It is played short and crossed to the far post for Elliott but it goes out for a goal kick.
10’ – Also Happy Birthday to former Union Captain and current play by play commentator for this game Maurice Edu
9’ – Flach turns it over in the final third.
8’ – Union finally getting a play in the attacking third. The ball goes out for a Union throw in.
6’ – Blake setting up the wall for a free kick that is about 27 yards out from the top of the box. Zelarayan sends it directly to Blake, who saves the shot.
4’ – After the Union spent the first few minutes on the defense, they finally were able to clear the ball up the field. But the Crew are able to bring it back down the field.
1’ – Diaz with a fast break up the left side shots it into an outstretching Blake for the save.
1’ – MLS 2021 season is now underway for the Union. Kickoff happened at 5:58 PM
Starting Lineups:
Philadelphia Union
Columbus Crew
Understanding our enemy
Ahead of this evening’s ‘Super Cup’ kickoff for 2020, we sat down with our friends from Massive Report to grab some intel on the Crew. This includes there strengths and how they will deal with missing Darlington Nagbe. (This is good news for Union fans)
Counter Report: The Intel we shared
Intel reports go both ways, see the details we shared with our friends at Massive Report. We were asked about the dissapointment in losing in the first round of the playoffs last year and how it may effect the players. We also talked about our expectations for 2021.
US Open Cup not happening in Spring 2021
Heading into this week, these first few games were important for the Union since it dealt with qualifications for the 16 team tournament. However on Friday we learned that there would be no spring tournament.
Injuries/Absences
How to Watch
Where: Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
When: 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 18th
TV: FS1, FOX Deportes
Radio: Fox Sports The Gambler 1480 AM and 105.3 HD2
Audio Streaming: IHeart Radio App, Fox Sports The Gambler
Officials
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Lineman 1: Kathryn Nesbitt
Lineman 2: Eric Boria
Fourth official: Ismir Pekmic
VAR: Hilario Grajeda
Assisted VAR: Ryan Graves