Philadelphia Union
Union battle back but come up short in Champions Cup exit
Closer but still not enough.
The Philadelphia Union overcame an early set piece goal and made a game out of their second leg Round of 16 Concacaf Champions Cup match with Club America in Mexico City Wednesday night but a 1-1 draw wasn’t enough to knock off the Liga MX giants.
Raphael Veiga, the goal-scorer in the first leg at Subaru Park last week, found the head of Rodrigo Dourado in the sixth minute on a curling set piece into the box and Dourado was able to head the ball with pace past Andrew Rick to make it 2-0 on aggregate.
America nearly put the game out of reach minutes later through U.S. international Alex Zendejas but VAR came through for the visitors to confirm an offside and take the goal off the board.
Zendejas and the America attack continued to threaten through the rest of the half while the Union struggled to string passes together and create mismatches in transition until Cavan Sullivan slipped ball to Stas Korzienowksi in the box that had equalizer written all over it in the first minute of stoppage time. Korzienowski had trouble getting the ball out of his feet and Rodolfo Cota was able to make the stop.
VAR came into play once more before the break when Jovan Lukic was whistled for a handball in the box. A quick video review confirmed that Érick Sánchez’s shot had hit Lukic in the armpit and not the arm. Another potential crisis avoided.
Heading into the second half still in search of an equalizer, the Union quickly turned the tide and Jesus Bueno hit a diagonal ball toward substitute Frankie Westfield streaking into the box. Zendejas clumsily toppled Westfield over in an attempt to deny him the ball and VAR wasn’t needed to call the obvious penalty. Bueno calmly stepped up to convert the penalty and put the Union within striking distance of advancing through the away goal tiebreaker.
That would-be defining moment nearly came at the hour mark when Sullivan danced toward the end line and sent a low cross in the box with Bruno Damiani charging that found its way to Nathan Harriel in the box. Harriel’s shot went agonizingly wide of the mark.
Nine minutes later Westfield had a good look from outside the box on a ball played to him by Bueno but his attempt sailed over the bar. Milan Iloski had several chances to create off set pieces and the team as a whole showed a lot more bite in the second half than they did much of the first half, making things interesting the rest of the way.
Though the Union was only one goal away from pulling off the comeback, America was content slowing things down and spending much of the rest of the way baiting the referee into blowing his whistle. Teenage striker Malik Jakupovic, making his second first team appearance, had a half chance in the box he wasn’t able to redirect on frame in the 87th minute but the final minutes of the match were marked more by America employing stalling techniques than the Union threatening a smash and grab.
In the end, the early Champions Cup exit in a game that felt winnable for the Union had several positives to take away and one still burning question of how the Union can find more success scoring from the run of play. Wednesday’s game in Mexico City was an improvement from the 3-1 loss in Atlanta over the weekend but still not enough to turn around a frustrating month.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union: Andrew Rick, Nathan Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, Geiner Martínez (Frankie Westfield 45′), Japhet Sery Larsen (Philippe Ndinga 81′) , Jovan Lukic, Jesus Bueno, Milan Iloski, Cavan Sullivan (Danley Jean Jacques 63′), Indiana Vassilev (Malik Jakupovic 72′), Stas Korzeniowski (Bruno Damiani 45′).
Substitutes not used: Andre Blake, George Marks, Finn Sundstrom, Giovanny Sequera, Alejandro Bedoya, Ben Bender, Jeremy Rafanello, Malik Jakupovic.
Club América: Rodolfo Cota, Cristian Borja, Sebastian Cáceres (Ramón Juarez, 45’), Israel Reyes, Aaron Mejía, Brian Rodríguez (Lima, 71’) , Érick Sánchez, Rodrigo Dourado, Álex Zendejas, Raphael Veiga (Thiago Espinosa, 72’), Patricio Salas (Raúl Zúñiga, 71’).
Substitutes not used: Néstor Araujo, Alan Cervantes, Alexis Gutierrez, César Lugo, Fernando Tapia, Miguel Vazquez, Jonathan dos Santos, Kevin Álvarez.
