Rotated Union falls to Santos Laguna in Leagues Cup finale

The Leagues Cup never comes at a good time, but it could hardly have come at a worse time for the Philadelphia Union. Where it was once thought of as the team’s only shot at Champions Cup, the three-game winning streak to start off the post-World Cup break made the annual competition a needless distraction.

After a controversial 1-0 loss to Cruz Azul and a 3-1 win over Necaxa put the Union in wing and a prayer territory of advancing, interim head coach Ryan Richter fielded a heavily rotated squad with Jeremy Rafanello, Geiner Martinez, Ben Bender and Union II regulars Rafael Uzcátegui and Stas Korzienowski all earning starts.

The sparse crowd and a host of familiar Union II players – Kellan LeBlanc made his first team debut off the bench and Finn Sundstrom and Malik Jakupovic made cameos off the bench – made it resemble a late summer friendly and the 2-0 final inconsequential with a visit to Yankee Stadium in a return to MLS action three days away.

Quinn Sullivan was the marquee player in the starting XI, earning his 160th career appearance for his hometown team in all competitions. He registered one of the team’s four shots on target just before halftime, forcing Héctor Holguín into a finger tip save in first half stoppage time. Ezekiel Alladoh recorded a team high two shots on target and Jakupovic also had one on frame after coming on.

Santos Laguna punished sloppy defense for the Union with a pair of goals just after halftime. Ramiro Sordo and Ezequiel Bullaude delivering the game’s two goals in a three minute span just after the break.

Andrew Rick recorded a save on the only other shot on target on the night from the Liga MX visitors, which lost both of its previous two Leagues Cup games to NYCFC and Chicago Fire.

The unforgiving format – just the top four teams from each league advanced – and a massive no call on a handball that could’ve changed the outcome of their opener against Cruz Azul made Leagues Cup a disappointment but with more important games against NYCFC and Inter Miami on the horizon in league play, the decision to rest the starters proved to be a wise one as even a win would’ve still eliminated the boys in blue.

Sunday’s visit to Yankee Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. Three days later the Union will host Inter Miami back at a much fuller Subaru Park.

Lineups

Philadelphia Union: Andrew Rick, Japhet Sery Larsen, Geiner Martínez (Finn Sundstrom 66’), Jeremy Rafanello, Rafael Uzcátegui, Ben Bender, Jesús Bueno ( Alejandro Bedoya 59’) Agustin Anello (Kellan LeBlanc 76’), Quinn Sullivan, Ezekiel Alladoh, Stas Korzeniowski (Malik Jakupovic 59’).

Substitutes not used: Andre Blake, George Marks; Nathan Harriel, Kai Wagner, Frankie Westfield, Danley Jean-Jacques, Jovan Lukic, Cavan Sullivan.

Santos Laguna: Holguín Héctor, Geovanni Pérez, Franco Pardo, Mauricio Cuevas (José Abella 65’), Kevin Picón (Emmanuel Echeverría 76’ ), Efraín Orona, Salvador Mariscal (Joshua Mancha 84’), Francisco Villalba (Carlos Greuzo 66’), Ramiro Sordo (Javier Güemez 83’), Kevin Palacios, Eduardo Aguirre (Ezequiel Bullaude 46’).

Substitutes not used: Carlos Acevedo, Sergio Barajas, Diego González, Diego Medina, Felipe Sánchez, Tahiel Jiménez.

Matthew Ralph

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now. He's covered soccer at all levels for a decade in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

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