The Philadelphia Union lost 2-1 to the New England Revolution in rainy Foxborough, Massachusetts. Both teams played through the rain, but the hosts needed the second-half rain goals to take all three points. Philly failed to get a second win this season and continues to sit in last place in the East with seven points from 12 matches. With just three games left before the World Cup break, the Union is dealing with inconsistent play and a banged-up team. Here are three takeaways from the loss at New England.
Once again, Bradley Carnell played what is likely his best XI available. Sery and Ndinga joined Bueno on the Injury report, leaving Philly a bit short-handed against a sneaky good New England side. The Revs came out in their preferred 4-2-3-1 and were organized as they have been over their first third of the MLS season.
Philadelphia Union Starting XI at New England
GK: Blake
LB: Westfield CB: Makhanya CB: MartĂnez RB: Harriel
DM: Lukic DM: Jean Jacques
AM: C. Sullivan AM: Vassilev
ST: Iloski ST: Alladoh
In the first half, both teams had some chances, but failed to score. However, after a quick clearance, Union forward Milan Iloski forced Will Sands into trouble. The Revolution defender was trying to blast the ball into the stands, but Iloski got a touch to it and forced Sand's effort to go into his own net.
Philly was up at halftime and had a golden chance to make it 2-0 at the hour mark. Cavan Sullivan forced New England keeper Matt Turner to make a save and spill a rebound. Union record incoming transfer Ezekiel Alladoh had the ball at his feet, but hit a New England defender and not the back of the net. One minute later. New England scored a banger through Luca Langoni one minute later, then captain Carles Gil scored in the 87th to win the game.
So what are the takeaways from this latest Union collapse?
Having a banged-up squad before the game is one thing, but this match saw a few players get knocks. Early on, midfielder Danley Jean Jacques took a studs-up ankle injury, but was able to carry on in this game. The same couldn't be said for defender Frankie Westfield.
Westfield has been dealing with nagging leg injuries and had to be taken off the pitch after just half an hour due to what looked like another lower-body injury. Pictures of him in what looked like a wheelchair on the sidelines with his head in his hands could be a devastating blow to this team. Philly's starting caliber players are getting hurt, but what may be worse is their starting strikers.
Carnell has realized he cannot play the two most expensive players in club history together up top, as strikers Bruno Damiani and Ezekiel Alladoh play too similarly and occupy the same spaces in the attack. This has led to pairing the high-priced strikers with craftier attackers, Milan Iloski and AugustĂn Anello.
Carnell went with Alladoh and Iloski from the start, one of whom helped create a goal, the other missed the chance to make it 2-0 for Philly. Then Damiani and Anello came in at 1-1 and were virtually nonexistent. Philly has been a club reluctant to spend money over its 16 seasons in MLS, and now, seeing its two most expensive players in club history this inept at what they're paid to do, fans are longing for past strikers. Baribo, Uhre, or Carranza would be so much better; hell, even the likes of Przybylko, Burke, or Le Toux would make this team capable of getting more than 7 points from 12 games.
This is an all-time low for Philly. Their nosedive coming off the high of winning the Supporters' Shield to last place in the East has been catastrophic, and in all honesty, self-inflicted. This is what happens when a team that wins a trophy doesn't do enough to keep vital players or retool if those players are set to leave.
Philly plays on the road vs Orlando this coming Wednesday (May 13), at home vs Columbus next Saturday (May 16), and then is at Miami on Sunday, May 24, before the World Cup break. The Union sits four points below 14th-place Orlando, and could only be on 15 points if they win their remaining games before the break. I don't see that happening; it seems more likely that this team is in last place heading into a two-month break.
