Union take a step back in draw with D.C. United

A scoreless draw at home isn’t great. A tie against a D.C. United team the Union handled 13-0 last season feels worse. The Philadelphia Union (5-4-3, 18 points) missed an opportunity to gain traction in the league standings with a disappointing draw in which they registered sixteen shots, one in which was a 65-yard free kick by Jack Elliott that missed by a foot, yet only two of those sixteen shots reached target.

“We weren’t sharp enough with the ball in the first half,” Union coach Jim Curtin said after the game. “We’re in our own building, we have to make the game. I thought we struggled a bit.”

Playing out of a 4-3-2-1 with Julian Carranza as the lone striker and Daniel Gazdag and Joaquín Torres siting behind him, the Union opted for more creative options going forward but couldn’t make the final pass in the attacking third, something that has plagued the team all season. “It’s your ugly 0-0 Wednesday game that at home always feels like a loss,” Curtin said.

Though the Union opened the game strong when Torres finished off Carranza’s cross, the goal was called back due to offside on the build-up, and after the Union managed one shot on target in the first half and a .1 expected goals (xG) ratio. The Union finished the game with .6 xG. “Not enough high-quality chances,” Curtin said about his team’s attacking deficiencies. “I don’t think we’ve gotten into enough dangerous spots.”

The problem for the Union all season has been creating quality chances. The Union rank 9th in MLS with shots (166) but are a staggering 28th in shots on target (30.1%). Julian Carranza had the Union’s only shots on target, both from distance, and were easily saved by Tyler Miller, who was lively coming out of his goal and clearing most attempted through balls over the backline. Gazdag had a quiet night, with 1 key pass. The league-leader in assists with 7 couldn’t find the connections with Carranza or Torres and was bottled up by the pressure from Lancaster’s Russel Canouse, who had a team-high 14 possessions won.

Matt Real, in for the departed Jack McGlynn, away with the U-20 National Team ahead of the World Cup, had a free header in the second half from an Alejandro Bedoya cross that could have been a winner, but he missed the target. Andres Perea, the Union’s expensive offseason acquisition for added experience and depth, made a rare appearance and had two good looks late, one blocked and a second effort over the bar.

Even with last year’s thrashings, the Union hold a 12-3-1 record at home against D.C. as well as a 18-9-6 record all-time against their “rivals” to the South. Despite the one-sidedness however, D.C. held the advantage in key scoring opportunities. New DP Mateusz Klich forced Andre Blake into a diving save early in the first half while Homegrown Ted Du-Pietro had a point-blank shot smothered by a Blake leg save. Christian Benteke gave the Union center backs fits all night and smacked a header off the crossbar late in the second half as well as set up several good scoring opportunities that were stopped by tough Union defending in the box.

Kai Wagner has been one of the Union’s bright spots in recent weeks, even more so after scoring three goals in the Union’s last three games. Wagner was not happy with the result considering the Union were back home after a long road stretch. “How we played today is unacceptable,” Wagner said after the game. “We missed everything. It was not our style, how we want to play, how we want to attack.”

With three league wins in a row, the Union were hoping to put another grueling and emotional road trip behind them, their second in recent weeks which included an exit in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 at Minnesota before a tough win at Colorado. “On the road to win, it’s always harder than at home,” Wagner said. “Everybody wants to have momentum to come home, get another win, but that’s what we didn’t get today.”

With the formation wrinkle, Wagner believed the changes didn’t help the performance. “We couldn’t press them,” he said. “They were playing too easy through the lines.” The Union’s lack of pressure has been the greatest change between this season and last when they were grinding up opposing midfields, winning the psychological battles by simply wearing out their counterparts. Some of that lack of bite can be due to the absence of José Martinez, who came on in the final 30 minutes after being out the previous two weeks due to injury. Wagner also spoke about the absence of Jack McGlynn, who’s excelled at keeping the ball moving and changing the point of attack to get the Union outside backs forward. “I was really mad today because we played down the right side, switched to the middle, then went back down the right side,” he said.

But even with the poor performance, Wagner admitted that this D.C. side is much better than the struggling team they faced last season. D.C. still trail the Union by two points with a 4-5-4 record, but more time under current coach Wayne Rooney has added some grit of their own. And with the additions of Klitchand Benteke, they’re a stronger team quality going forward. “They are way better,” Wagner said. “They’re defending better, they attack better. If you get a good Premier League striker who can hold the ball and head the ball, that’s a defender’s nightmare sometimes.”

The Union will have a quick turnaround when they host New England Saturday night at Subaru Park. The Revs (7-2-3, 24 points) currently sit second in the Eastern Conference and have bounced back from their 2022 season in which they failed to make the playoffs after reaching the CCL quarterfinals. The Union are 1-3-2 against the Revs in the last six games, with the lone winning coming at home last July. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:39 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on Apple TV-MLS Season Pass.