The Philadelphia Union lost yet again, but this loss feels worse than the eight that came before it. Their midweek clash against Orlando City was a matchup pitting last-place Philly against the team right above them in the standings. Despite a strong second-half push from the Union, Philly fell yet again, losing 4-3.
Bradley Carnell had his Union side set up with players coming in to fill the place of injured starters. The lack of depth on this side showed before a ball was kicked and was the reason Orlando was two goals up before the half-hour mark. Here's how Philly lined up.
Philadelphia Union Starting XI at Orlando City
GK: Rick
LB: Bender CB: Makhanya CB: Martínez RB: Harriel
DM: Lukic DM: Jean Jacques
AM: Rafanello AM: Vassilev
ST: Iloski ST: Damiani
There was minimal effort from Philadelphia early in this match, and by the time that changed, the game was already too far gone. A late first-half substitution saw Cavan Sullivan come on. He was the catalyst for change in the second half, setting up a Milan Iloski goal and scoring one himself. Still, that was not enough to get any points in a second-half thriller that ended 4-3.
This has been the question asked in all of the Union's first 13 MLS games. The team has severely handcuffed itself, losing players throughout the spine of the team that organized the defense and helped produce attacking threats. In this game, the decision to start players out of position and bench their best player, Cavan Sullivan, resulted in a poor first-half showing.
It's clear that this Union team needs a fire lit under them to rise to the occasion. In this latest loss, that was going down 2-0 and bringing on Cavan Sullivan. It helped get others into the game, like Nate Harriel, who looked very good with Sullivan ahead of him. The problem seems to be having that fire lit from the opening whistle. The spectacular play from a 17-year-old can only get you so far when you're in last place.
Cavan Sullivan scored his first MLS goal in this game, and did everything he could after coming on to will the Union to some points. Getting a goal and an assist is normally enough to do just that, but not when your team concedes four goals. Sullivan's development, though, is the lone bright spot from the 2026 Philadelphia Union.
With two games left before the World Cup break, Cavan Sullivan has solidified himself as the Union's best player. His play is electric; he creates chances, gets others involved, and is now on the MLS statsheet. Hopefully, he's a penciled-in starter from here on out; Cavan only has a 16-month tenure in Philly before he moves to Manchester City. Get his brother Quinn back on the pitch, and the Sullivans might salvage a bit of respect for this club in 2026.
While the Union put up a fight after getting punched in the mouth, and the underlying stats actually favored Philly in this game, the outcome was another loss. One win, three draws, nine losses for a total of six points from 13 matches; 13 goals scored, 23 conceded for a -10 goal difference. Things have been bleak for the Philadelphia Union over their 16 years of history, but this is unprecedented.
It's crazy to think that this club could feel the highs they felt in the early 2020's, and win a Shield over the likes of Messi and Miami in 2025, and fall off a cliff the way they have. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, and as of now, Philly sits in last place among all 30 MLS teams, 13 games in 2026.
I have followed the club from day one, was a season ticket member for a point, and those teams in the first five years of Philly's existence struggled to compete in MLS. Now, after covering the team for a decade, and seeing them scrap their way to contender status, win a few Supporters' Shields, and play in an MLS Cup, I thought they had finally figured out the balance of crafting a competitive roster with self-inflicted restraints. 2026 has shown that's not the case; If ownership cares enough to dig out of this hole, changes across the board should be on the horizon.
