Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union struggle defensively in final preseason match
The Philadelphia Union took an early lead but struggled mightily in the second half of their final preseason match, falling 4-2 to CF Montréal in Clearwater, Florida Tuesday night after taking a 2-0 lead.
Milan Iloski scored an early brace, but the wheels fell off for the Union in the second half when they conceded four unanswered goals. Tuesday evening’s match took place at Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex, capping off the Union’s preseason trip. Notably, new signing Agustín Anello made his first appearance for the Union, starting in the left attacking midfield position.
The Union started the match on the front foot. Ezekiel Alladoh played as a target man while Milan Iloski made runs around him. Iloski, used mostly as an attacking midfielder last season, was deployed as a striker on Tuesday by Bradley Carnell. After multiple threatening set pieces early in the first half, the Union cashed in on their momentum in the 28 th minute via a great team buildup. Danley Jean-Jacques collected the ball 30 yards from goal before finding right back Frankie Westfield. Westfield played a first time pass to the edge of the box into the stride of Iloski, who struck a beautiful, curling first-time effort into the top right corner. Ten minutes later, in the 38 th minute, CF Montréal midfielder Samuel Piette turned the ball over to the Union after being caught in possession. Alladoh passed left to Anello, who then fired a low left-footed cross to Iloski which was tapped into the back of the net. Iloski’s brace gave the Union a 2-0 lead.
Just after the goal, a strong Nate Harriel challenge left Montréal winger Hennadii Synchuk down injured. Harriel received a yellow card, exchanging words with Montréal coach Marco Donadel. Shockingly, Donadel was sent off in the aftermath.
Dominating the match, the Union appeared to be in cruise control. However, a strange sequence gave Montréal a lifeline just before the half. A long diagonal was played over the top of the Union defense towards former Union player Fabian Herbers, running down the left wing.
Frankie Westfield, tracking the run of Herbers, pushed the Montréal winger with two hands despite the long pass landing far behind both players. Herbers went down, and the referee awarded a penalty kick, with the contact occurring just inside the penalty area. Daniel Ríos dispatched the penalty past Andre Blake, halving Montréal’s deficit on the stroke of halftime.
To start the second half, the Union changed out their attacking midfielders. Bedoya came off for Cavan Sullivan, and Ben Bender replaced Anello, who made an impact in his first match. Montréal started the second half with an almost entirely new lineup. Montréal’s second lineup fared far better than the first, putting pressure on the Union almost instantly. After an ugly sequence where the Union tried and failed multiple times to clear the ball, they were punished by Montréal’s Wiki Carmona, tying the match at 2-2 in the 49 th minute. Carmona is a new addition for Montréal this season from NY Red Bulls, for whom he scored against the Union in the U.S. Open Cup last season.
After the halftime substitutions, the Union struggled to get back into rhythm offensively. The substitute attacking midfielders, Sullivan and Bender, struggled to connect play the way that Bedoya and Anello did in the first half. The Union were punished for this, conceding in the 66th minute after Montréal’s Olger Escobar powered home a low strike from the edge of the box that
beat Blake. After cruising to a 2-0 lead, the Union trailed 3-2.
Almost immediately after the goal, the Union brought the ball forward with Milan Iloski. Iloski passed the ball on the bounce but was clattered into afterwards by Efraín Morales. Morales’ extremely late tackle earned him a straight red card, and Iloski was removed from the match with an injury. Holding his foot, he was able to walk off on his own power.
New defensive addition Geiner Martinez relieved Japhet Sery Larsen in the second half, and 21- year-old Rafael Uzcátegui of Union II replaced Olwethu Makhanya, leaving the Union with a young back line for the remainder of the match. With five minutes to go in the match, the Union pressed for an equalizer. After a turnover, a long Montréal pass to the left stayed in play for winger Mahala Opoku. Opoku’s cross found Prince Owusu, who scored Montréal’s fourth goal.
The match ended minutes later, and the Union dropped their final preseason game 4-2. Despite a convincing start to the match, the Union have some issues they will need to focus on cleaning up before their first match next Wednesday in Trinidad & Tobago. Iloski was the star of the end of the preseason, both scoring goals in the final match and assisting from multiple set pieces earlier in preseason. If Iloski is not available for the start of the season, the Union may have to call upon Anello for production from the striker or attacking midfield position sooner rather than later.
The Union will also have to focus on shoring up their defense. With the loss of Kai Wagner and Jakob Glesnes, a new back four will understandably take some time to gel. With that in mind, CF Montréal scored 34 goals last season, second-least in MLS. The Union trotted out what looked like a potential first team starting defense for today’s match and still conceded four goals.
Frankie Westfield was on the right, Nathan Harriel on the left, with Olwethu Makhanya and Japhet Sery Larsen as center backs. This was also the Union’s second preseason match in a row in which the defenders conceded a penalty kick, but Andrew Rick’s heroic save against Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday could not be replicated tonight by Blake.
The Union start their season next Wednesday in the Concacaf Champions Cup, traveling to Port of Spain for the first of two legs against Defence Force FC of Trinidad and Tobago. The match will kick off at 6 p.m. EST and will air in the United States on Fox Sports 2.
Union Lineup (4-2-2-2)
Blake; Westfield, Sery Larsen (Martinez 63’), Makhanya (Uzcategui 77’), Harriel; Lukic, Danley, Bedoya (C. Sullivan, 45’), Anello (Bender 45’); Alladoh (Korzeniowski 77’), Iloski (Olivas 70’)
Montreal Lineup (4-2-3-1)
Keita (Breza 45’); Guboglo (Thorhallsson 45’), Vera (Morales 45’), Craig (Aviles 45’), Hidalgo (Bugaj 45’); Loturi (Losenko 45’), Piette (Longstaff 45’); Jaime (Escobar 30’), Herbers (Carmona 45’), Synchuk (Opoku 40’); Rios (Owusu 45’)
