Philadelphia Union drops second straight on the road in 3-1 loss to LA Galaxy

The Philadelphia Union fell on the road to the LA Galaxy Saturday night with a dissatisfying 3-1 loss in Carson City. Poor goalkeeping from Joe Bendik was paired with an uninspiring attack as the Union suffered their second loss in as many games.

The Union entered the match in prime position to make up points in the Eastern Conference, as all four teams ahead of them in the standings had dropped points earlier in the night. With a win, Philadelphia could have moved to third place, sitting one point behind Nashville in second place with a game in hand.

Jim Curtin rolled out a standard lineup against Los Angeles. With a match coming on Wednesday against Nashville SC, the Union’s head coach chose not to rotate his group.

Line up in LA ⭐️

Watch for FREE on #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/aOj6Oetaa7

📝 https://t.co/61HCglYEDK#DOOP pic.twitter.com/1k5GBShjdw

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 9, 2023

Philadelphia struggled early on. A poor save attempt from Bendik allowed Tyler Boyd’s shot to skip past his outstretched hand and into the net to take the lead.

Goal hungry 🍽️

Tyler Boyd puts away the first goal in #LAvPHI. pic.twitter.com/38Ret7vVNK

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 9, 2023

The Union struggled while trailing. Connecting passes and advancing the ball up the pitch proved difficult, as poor communication and touches seemed the theme of the first half.

However, Philadelphia eventually found the net. Mikael Uhre found a deflected shot from Jakob Glesnes at his feet, and calmly placed the ball into the net. It was the forward’s seventh goal of the MLS season.

A deflection off of a rocket from Jakob Glesnes lets Mikael Uhre send it home to tie it up on the road ⚡️

Watch for FREE on #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/Ga3WDh5AB3#DOOP | #LAvPHI 1-1 pic.twitter.com/43KVZIVMKf

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 9, 2023

The Union weren’t able to maintain the tied scoreline, as Los Angeles scored again soon after. However, the Galaxy couldn’t take credit for their second goal, they scored on an own goal from the backside of Olivier Mbaizo that Bendik failed to gather from a corner kick. The goal sent the teams into the locker rooms with LA leading 2-1.

Neither team was able to make much of a dent early in the second half. Despite the Union’s underwhelming play in other points of their game, the team was able to make some exceptional tackles against the Galaxy and hold off much danger in the host’s attacks.

The Galaxy were able to notch their third goal while the Apple TV stream was down in the 77th minute. Riqui Puig delivered a screamer for the Galaxy that would have been difficult for any goalkeeper to save and secured all three points for Los Angeles.

While the Galaxy remained hot after their rivalry match against LAFC earlier in the week, Philadelphia continued to look for answers to recent struggles in form. The Union have dropped three of their last five matches as they fight for position in the Eastern Conference. As MLS action closed on Saturday, the Union sat in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Philadelphia Union return to action at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21 as they face Nashville on the road. The match will be broadcast on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.