Union still searching for answers as season’s end approaches

Tai Baribo was getting hot. Philadelphia was going on a run.

Then, they weren’t.

After losing in Leagues Cup to the Columbus Crew on a week prior, the Philadelphia Union dropped their third straight game to the Crew on Wednesday night. Despite Columbus playing its reserves against most of Philadelphia’s starters for 60 minutes of the match, the Union couldn’t handle it when Yaw Yeboah, Cucho Hernandez, Darlington Nagbe, Diego Rossi and Max Arfsten entered the match.

The Union lost 1-0 in Subaru Park to the Crew, giving Columbus its first point in the venue since 2018. Once again, they just weren’t good enough.

“Our goal was to jump on them early. I thought we actually had a good first 15 minutes at the post, at the bar, five or six corner kicks consecutively, didn’t get a goal, and then you knew what they would be bringing into the game at around the 60th, 70th minute,” head coach Jim Curtin said postgame.

“At that point when we didn’t have a lead, we knew it was going to be difficult. Still, would like to at least get a point out of tonight. So that part hurts. The guys put a ton after it on a hot night, ran, worked hard, but it wasn’t enough.”

The Union, who made the semifinals of Leagues Cup, hadn’t been competitive in Major League Soccer play until Baribo’s emergence as a solid forward. While the Union struggled for just about all of the 2024 season, Baribo and Philadelphia won the team’s last two games going into the tournament.

After rattling off wins in Leagues Cup, the Union were looking like a team on the rise. The losses against Columbus and the Colorado Rapids changed that perception.

Albeit, the Crew and the Rapids are some of MLS’ better teams. Still, the week-long losing stretch became a sharp reminder of how far the Union have to go.

“Our goal is still going to be to get in playoffs. That has to be our goal. As hard as it seems, whether it’s right or wrong, we’re still only a point out,” Curtin said. “So again, we’re not that far off, but we have to fight our way back into contention.”

The Union sit just one point behind Atlanta United in the Eastern Conference. The catch? Philadelphia and Atlanta are two of eight teams battling for one playoff spot that all sit within two points of each other. Every point counts for the Union from here on out. Failing to score against a makeshift Crew side at home didn’t do much for those efforts.

What’s worse for the Union is their schedule the rest of the way. Outside of D.C. United, every team the Union face after Wednesday’s loss is in playoff position. Matchups against the Eastern Conference’s top three teams — Inter Miami, FC Cincinnati, and Columbus — won’t be any reprieve from the difficulties facing a Union team already looking at missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

“Do we have a hard schedule?” Curtin said. “Of course, we do, but it’s not an impossible task for us to go on a three-game winning streak.”