Philadelphia Union
Union come back after Elliott red to win 8th straight
The Philadelphia Union fell behind in the first half but got a gift from an old friend before halftime and second half goals from Milan Iloski and Bruno Damiani to stretch their win streak to eight straight and their unbeaten run to 14 games.
The Fire opened the scoring in the 44th minute through a classy finish from Maren Haile-Selassie past Andre Blake in front of goal after Noah Allen got in behind and played the ball across the face. Whatever positivity the goal produced in the sparse midweek crowd at Soldier Field came to a screeching halt two minutes later through a self-inflicted wound. Former Philadelphia Union center back Jack Elliott pulled down Iloski at midfield and was shown a second yellow card by referee Ricardo Fierro. The second yellow came just five minutes after Elliott went into the book for a foul on Damiani near midfield.
Playing from behind but up a man, the Philadelphia Union didn’t waste any time after the break to get on the front foot and capitalized after two cracks at the goal in the 49th minute.
Leading goal scorer Iloski finished at the back post after a run into the box and cross from Frankie Westfield that was tipped on by Damiani. The scoring sequence started with a cross from Kai Wagner to a sliding Iloski that was punched out but not cleared by Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady. Jovan Lukic collected outside the box and fired a shot that was blocked right into the path of Westfield, who drove into the box and delivered the cross that was flicked on.
As we’ve seen over and over again during their remarkable 14-match unbeaten streak, one goal quickly became two with Bruno Damiani taking a confident touch on a Cavan Sullivan pass into the box, poking it past Brady on the run in the 55th minute to make it 2-1. The play was started by a big switch from Westfield and a combo play from Iloski and Sullivan to free up the 17-year-old to run into the box. The secondary assist was Iloski’s 7th of the year to go with his team-leading 18 goals and Sullivan’s 14th assist of the campaign.
Damiani tacked on another goal to make it 3-0 in the 67th minute with another confident strike of the ball, this time collecting a pass in transition from Lukic and hitting a low liner just inside the right post to Brady’s left. The goal, Damiani’s 10th of the season and 8th in his last 6 games, effectively slammed the door on any legitimate effort for 10-man Chicago to recreate the horror that was the July 2024 game.
The win marked the fifth time this season the Union have won a game they trailed at halftime and was the first over an opponent in the top 4 of the standings (in either conference). It puts the Union within striking distance of the top 4 in the East, a feat that seemed impossible to fathom going into the World Cup break with just one win in 15.
The Union return home Saturday for a Kids’ Day matinee against fifth place Charlotte FC. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m.
