Just a few months after lifting the 2025 Supporters’ Shield as Major League Soccer’s best regular season team, Philadelphia Union’s nightmare start to the 2026 campaign continued on Saturday night when the Blue and Gold lost their 6th consecutive game in MLS play.
Bradley Carnell had hopes that coming off an international break and no longer juggling multiple competitions would help his squad start to right the ship on the 2026 season, but in their path back to winning ways was a Charlotte FC side coming off a 6-1 win against NYRB prior to the two week break, and a venue in which the Union have failed to claim three points from in four previous trips to Bank of America Stadium.
Philadelphia Union defender Japhet Sery Larsen (5) takes on Charlotte FC attackers Pep Biel (16) and Wilfried Zaha (10)
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
Despite a few guys being away for International Duty earlier this week, Carnell put together a strong XI to face Dean Smith’s side down in the Queen City. Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake, who suffered a devastating loss to DR Congo in World Cup Qualifiers earlier this week, started in goal for the U. Nate Harriel got the nod at Right Back, with Olwethu Makhanya and Japhet Sery Larsen as the two Center Backs. Frankie Westfield took the left side of the backline.
In midfield were Haitian international Danley Jean-Jacques and Jovan Lukic, acting as the double pivot, with Milan Iloski and Indiana Vassilev pushing the team forward in attack. Leading the lines and looking for the back of the net, which the Union have struggled to find so far, were Bruno Damiani and Ezekiel Alladoh, the Blue and Gold’s last two record-breaking signings - both without goals so far this season.
“I thought he [Alladoh] had moments where he does show what he can do, and then there’s moments where we’re seeking for an answer from him with his capabilities. We continue to build with him, we continue to grow with him, and we continue to coach him on a team level, on an integrated level, as well as an individual level. I understand the price tag with his name attached to it, but he’s still 20 years old, and we have to nurture him, we have to continue with him, no one around here is giving up on Ezekiel.” - Union Head Coach, Bradley Carnell
At the half-hour mark of the opening half, it was 36-year-old Ashley Westwood who scored his first goal since May 14th of 2025 to give Charlotte FC the lead at Bank of America Stadium. A needle-thread pass from Tim Ream at the back to Wilfred Zaha just in front of Union’s backline opened things up for Charlotte FC 30 yards out in front of Union’s goal.
Olwethu Makhanya did well to dispossess Idan Toklomati, who was just getting ready to unleash a shot on net, but the following clearance attempt by Frankie Westfield was instead the perfect setup for a first-touch right-footed blast from Westwood, which gave Andre Blake absolutely no chance of stopping, putting Charlotte FC in a 1-0 lead.
In the 78th minute and with the time winding down, Nate Harriel whipped a ball towards Charlotte’s penalty area from the right side of the pitch. Cavan Sullivan, who had just come into the game a moment or two before, flicked the pass from Harriel into the middle of the box, which fell perfectly for Danley Jean-Jacques around the penalty spot.
Danley settled the ball with his first touch on his left, recalibrated his feet, and put the ball into the back of the net with his right to draw Union level with 12 minutes and stoppage time left to try and grab their first win of the MLS season.
It was Danley Jean-Jacques' first goal of the 2026 MLS season, and it was 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan’s first recorded MLS assist of his career.
Danley Jean-Jacques’ equalizing goal for the Union hit the back of the net with 77:27 minutes played. At 79:10, just one minute and 43 seconds later and less than a minute after the restart, Charlotte FC caught Union’s defense sleeping and regained the lead thanks to an unmarked Wildfried Zaha in the box.
Pep Biel found himself with the ball at his feet and green space in front of him along the right side of the field before surveying his options and playing a left-footed cross towards the far post. Zaha, who entered into the penalty area with no dark blue shirts keeping track of him, patiently waited for the cross to arrive, squared up his hips, and sent the ball into the back of the net with a left-footed volley to seal all three points for Charlotte FC at home.
“It’s one of the worst things to happen in soccer, you’re the most vulnerable when you’ve just scored…extremely frustrating, we had them on the ropes, and again we take nothing away from the game. Again, many learning moments, many positive moments. But again, we fall short.” - Union Head Coach, Bradley Carnell
While their defense has certainly struggled so far this season, conceding 11 goals through the first six games of the year, Bradley Carnell’s side has only managed to find the back of the net on four occasions in league play, tied for the lowest of any team in Major League Soccer.
Outside of their 5-0 and 7-0 wins against an outmatched Trinidad and Tobago’s Defence Force in the CONCACAF Champions Cup earlier this season, the Union has failed to score multiple goals in any game they’ve played across all competitions this year, eight games with one goal scored or less.
“You can see over 90 minutes we’re there and thereabouts, but we also have to accept as a group right now, everything is an uphill battle, everything is a struggle, everything we touch needs to touch to gold, and it’s not, and that’s the unfortunate part because we’re in a tough situation. But we can’t hang our heads, we can’t drag our feet and mope around, we have to get up and go again.” - Union Head Coach, Bradley Carnell
Philadelphia Union defender Japhet Sery Larsen (5) takes on Charlotte FC attackers Pep Biel (16) and Wilfried Zaha (10)
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
Zero points through six games, 11 goals conceded, four goals scored, and at the bottom of the table. To put things in perspective, through the first six games of season one under Bradley Carnell, the Union had collected 12 points, conceded just seven goals, and scored 13, putting together a 4W-0D-2L start to an eventual Supporters’ Shield-lifting campaign.
While Bradley Carnell still feels confident that his team is showing positive signs of form to come and is in a position to win the games that they’re currently losing, he knows results need to start going their way and understands the frustration both the fans and the players are feeling at the moment.
“I think it’s totally understandable in a situation like we’re in for us to be fragile, but I don’t see us giving up, I don’t see a team that’s not committed, I don’t see a team that’s not creating, and I don’t see a team that’s not trying. Everything that we’ve asked of the boys, they’re fighting till the bitter end, and I feel for them, we feel for them.”- Union Head Coach, Bradley Carnell
Union midfielder Jovan Lukic fights for the ball in a downpour vs Charlotte FC.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
Up next for the Union is a trip across the border to take on CF Montreal in an early-season Wooden Spoon battle, which is definitely not where the Blue and Gold should be, but unfortunately, they find themselves in the early goings of the season.
I’d imagine it wasn’t a game many circled at the start of the year, but Bradley Carnell said it himself: the Union desperately needs to show up and get a big result against Montreal this weekend. Not just to stop the downward spiral the Philadelphia Union are currently having trouble getting out of, but to keep fans from questioning whether Bradley Carnell is the right guy to lead this current group of players to success moving forward - at least for the time being.
“We have to make sure we get up and go again. For me, against Montreal, we have to get at them. This is a crucial game coming up, in my opinion.” - Union Head Coach, Bradley Carnell
