Philadelphia Union
Carles Gil Remains Philadelphia Union’s Achilles’ Heel
The Union’s club-record unbeaten streak ended at home on Saturday night, losing 2-1 to the New England Revolution. The defeat snapped Philadelphia’s record run at 15 matches. Revolution star man Carles Gil had a goal and a secondary assist that propelled the visitors ahead 2-0. Neil Pierre’s late header goal proved to be just a consolation. USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner made six saves to keep the Union’s comeback attempts at bay. In the end, the late rally wasn’t enough, marking the Union’s first MLS loss since May 24 against Inter Miami. Which was also Bradley Carnell’s final match in charge.
It was a disappointing performance for the Union, who had the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot with a win on Saturday night. Missing Cavan Sullivan due to injury, it was the Union’s first game without scoring multiple goals since Austin FC on August 22nd, and the first time failing to do so at home in MLS since July 25. Additionally, Ryan Richter was in unfamiliar territory, losing his first match as an MLS head coach. Richter spoke with the media after the match.
“We didn’t play our best tonight. I don’t think it was a lack of effort or intensity, but we just weren’t at our sharpest,” Richter said. “In the end, I love that the guys continued to push and keep pushing to try to get something out of the game even though we weren’t at our best. In the end, I think it was a fair result.”
While the recent run of Union matches was largely dictated by the Union’s team press imposing their will on opponents and their red-hot attack making opponents pay, this match was instead dictated by the Revolution’s top creator in Carles Gil. Gil has a strong track record against the Union, scoring and assisting at Gillette Stadium against the U earlier in the season and famously assisting two goals in the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs to eliminate the top-seeded Union. Gil did it to Philly once again on Saturday, setting up the opening goal with a secondary assist and scoring a penalty for the second goal that he won himself with a long run into the box. Richter spoke about the Union’s struggles with Gil postgame.
“He’s a good player, and you build your game plan around him because they build their game plan around him. I thought we did a good job with how we dealt with some of the rotations that they use to try to give him time and space on the ball, but some of the turns out of pressure that he makes… we had him in a really good situation. Such clever touches,” Richter explained. On the opening goal, Quinn Sullivan and Milan Iloski were marking Gil together, but the Spaniard escaped the pressure to play in a dangerous cross. “He’s difficult to defend 1-v-1, and the guys are doing a good job… but that’s what his special quality is, and he can find a final pass after he beat somebody. For the most part, we limited that part. The commitment was totally there.”
Richter believed that the Union’s work rate was satisfactory, but at times were caught out by Gil and New England. After all, the Union did register 25 shots to New England’s 12 despite the Union looking second-best for most of the match. Matt Turner made 7 saves, beaten only by Neil Pierre’s header at the death. It’s understandable why Richter wasn’t all that disappointed with the effort level.
Kai Wagner, on the other hand, spoke very differently about the match. “Clearly, we were not up for it from minute one today. Never seen us losing that many tackles in a game,” Wagner said with disgust. “In the first half, we didn’t tackle at all. I don’t think we had any progression forward.” In the first half, the Union had 4 tackles and 6 interceptions, splitting ground duels 50/50 with the visitors. Still, the Union were not as dominant physically as they were in recent weeks, often recognized as the strength of the Union’s brand of soccer.
“I think it reflects a little bit the last two weeks, how we were training. And I think a lot of people need to know that we are not in the playoffs yet. We didn’t take the step yet. I think it’s a great run, what we did. But it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t follow it up.”
Wagner’s point is clear. The Union may have become comfortable in their approach to their recent matches, and he believes the preparation may have led to the loss. The match will serve as a wake-up call to the Union, who had not lost a league match under Ryan Richter and will look to bounce back for the first time. Unfortunately, their upcoming schedule is not very forgiving, and Wagner is aware of that.
“We made it really hard on ourselves, because I think today we had a chance to do it for ourselves at home, to go into the playoffs. Now, we have two really hard away trips, where we probably need to win one game of them. It will not be easy to go into Nashville, but like I said, today was just not a good effort from everybody.” The Union can still clinch a playoff spot with help from other teams, but their pursuit for a higher seed in the playoffs will be an uphill battle after the loss to New England.
Despite the Union’s lackluster performance, the visitors deserve credit for the performance they put up. Led by rookie MLS head coach Marko Mitrovic, a former coach of various USA youth national teams, the Revs are a team full of young American talent. All four members of the Revolution’s back line are under 23 years old. Three of the four are American with USYNT experience. Joshua Wynder and Ethan Kohler are both only 21 years old, and the duo kept red-hot forwards Milan Iloski and Bruno Damiani quiet. Peyton Miller, recently capped by the United States men’s national team, claimed an assist on the first goal after beating Frankie Westfield to Gil’s deep cross.
Westfield spoke about the matchup with Miller after the match. “I know Peyton personally. I played with him. I know he’s a guy that likes to combine, but also runs in behind and uses space a lot,” Westfield explained. “If we’re talking about losing a guy in the box, I have to do better there. Even if there is no pressure on the ball, I have to know where my man is. I take responsibility for that.”
One can imagine this match could have gone differently if the Union had Cavan Sullivan available. The red-hot Sullivan is sidelined with an ankle injury, and the Union struggled to find the final ball on Saturday. With as important as Sullivan has been, the Union still thrived in their last match without Cavan, defeating Orlando decisively by a 4-2 scoreline on September 26th. Indiana Vassilev took over playmaking duties, assisting on two goals in the absence of the Union’s assist leader. Saturday’s match was different, as Quinn Sullivan and Vassilev did not have their sharpest game and did not fill the void left by the young Sullivan.
The Union will have their next chance to clinch a playoff spot on Wednesday night. The Boys in Blue will have a quick turnaround to face 2026 Supporters’ Shield winners Nashville SC away. Nashville has yet to lose at home this season in MLS, so the Union will have a tough task against former Union staffer BJ Callaghan’s team. The match will kick off Wednesday night at 8:30 PM on Apple TV.
