Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications
The Philadelphia Union took on Atlanta United FC at Subaru Park Saturday evening, hoping to end their five-game winless streak. Goals from Quinn Sullivan, Danley Jean Jacques, and Tai Baribo saw the Union back in the win column despite a red card to Jovan Lukic putting them down a man in the second half.
After missing the Union’s previous match against New York City FC, Andre Blake surprisingly returned to the starting lineup despite being listed as “questionable” on the league’s Player Status Report. He did train in the days leading up to the match, but all signs pointed to another start for homegrown Andrew Rick until the lineup dropped. Oliver Semmle’s presence on the gameday roster supports this theory. Blake came up big to keep the clean sheet.
First half
Referee Allen Chapman awarded two free kicks to Atlanta in the first four minutes of the match, both of which came on weak fouls as a result of the Union’s signature press. Atlanta’s Emmanuel Latte Lath was the target of the second, on which, he very nearly missed getting a head onto within the Union’s six-yard box. A few subjectively worse challenges on Union players just minutes later went uncalled, and this trend continued throughout the match. That pressure from Atlanta saw Jakob Glesnes earn a yellow card twenty minutes into the match.
The Union had trouble keeping Atlanta at bay in the early minutes of the match, but the home team’s first real chance came after catching Atlanta’s defense on the break. A long ball to Bruno Damiani found Mikeal Uhre, who dribbled it into the box. Indiana Vassilev had some excellent holdup play to get it back to Uhre, who then put the ball wide to the right of the net.
Quinn Sullivan scored his first goal of the season to send the Union ahead on a right-volley that weaved through the wall of men crowding in front of Brad Guzan’s net to catch him completely off guard at his back post. The goal energized the Union and made them much more confident in the attacking half, and they looked to be the better team from that point on.
Atlanta was forced to make two substitutions in the first half due to a head injury for centerback Stian Gregerson and what looked like a groin injury for midfielder Tristan Muyumba.
Second half
The Union came out after the break looking to increase the lead, and did just that off a low, confidently placed shot from Danley Jean Jacques, his first goal in a Union shirt. Mikeal Uhre got the assist with a well-placed through ball.
Minutes later, Jovan Lukic stood in the way of an Atlanta free kick and saw his second yellow. Moments after that, Danley got a yellow, and Atlanta was awarded a free kick just outside of the box. They were unable to find the target from the dead ball. Olwethu Makhanya came on for Uhre after the ejection, and the Union switched to a five-man defensive line to protect the lead.
Atlanta’s Noah Cobb had a hard collision with Bruno Damiani in the Atlanta box, and Chapman let play continue for the entire subsequent Atlanta breakaway until the ball was back to Quinn Sullivan’s feet. Cobb ended up needing to leave the match, using Atlanta’s third and final substitution window in just the 66th minute. These injuries kept them from making tactical substitutions to adjust to the Union’s.
Play became very physical from there, with multiple fouls coming from both teams. The Union sat back and defended a lot more with the man disadvantage, allowing the visitors some better attacking chances. The vast majority of those chances either missed the net entirely or were shot directly at Andre Blake. The Jamaican performed some heroics to hold onto the clean sheet with a backwards diving save to paw out a header from Atlanta’s Alexey Miranchuk.
Out of nowhere, Tai Baribo increased his golden boot lead after Quinn Sullivan stopped the ball on the far sideline and crossed it back into the box for the Israeli to head it in.
Three points:
- Lineup rotation: Aside from Andre Blake’s start, it’s also worth mentioning that Nathan Harriel started at centerback over Olwethu Makhanya and Neil Pierre (who burned a short-term callup to be on the bench), and Tai Baribo sat for Mikeal Uhre and Bruno Damiani at striker. The Union were likely anticipating the height and physicality of the Atlanta side against them and chose to opt for an equally physical approach to start the match.
- Jovan Lukic: Before his ejection, Lukic had an incredible match defensively. He made multiple recoveries to break up Atlanta attacks and involve himself in the Union’s buildup play. His second yellow was much like Makhanya’s ejection earlier in the season, a frustrated player having a lapse in judgment in the moment.
- With 10 men: For the first time in recent memory, the Union held onto a lead and won a match while down a man. Bradley Carnell’s tactical adjustments to add an extra center back and play somewhat of a 5-3-1 formation were enough to keep Atlanta at bay. Andre Blake’s presence in the net made the win much more confident.
Lineups
Philadelphia
Andre Blake, Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner, Nathan Harriel, Frankie Westfield, Jovan Lukic, Indiana Vassilev (Jeremy Rafanello–84’) , Danley Jean Jacques, Quinn Sullivan (Alejandro Bedoya–84’) , Mikeal Uhre (Olwethu Makhanya– 62’), Bruno Damiami (Tai Baribo– 74’)
Unused subs: Andrew Rick, Oliver Semmle, Cavan Sullivan, Chris Donovan, Neil Pierre
Atlanta
Brad Guzan, Stian Gregerson (Luis Abram– 31’), Brooks Lennon, Pedro Amador, Noah Cobb (Jamal Thiare– 66’), Tristan Muyumba (Mateusz Klich– 34’), Miguel Almiron, Jay Fortune (Saba Lobjanidze– 66’), Bartosz Slisz, Latte Lath, Alexey Miranchuk
Unused Subs: Josh Cohen, Ronald Hernandez, Luke Brennan, Will Reilly, Matthew Edwards
Scoring Summary:
PHI: Q. Sullivan– 27’
PHI: Jean Jacques– 51’
PHI: Baribo — 84’
Discipline Summary:
PHI: Glesnes– 19’
PHI: Lukic– 45+’
PHI: Lukic– 56’ (Second caution)
PHI: Jean Jacques– 57’
ATL: Amador– 68’
Referee: Allen Chapman
