Another Sunday afternoon gone in 2026, and that means another MLS Next Pro gameday is gone too. This Sunday brought along Union II’s final game of a trilogy of home games to start their 2026 season, and the visitors to Subaru Park were league newcomers CT United for the first matchup between these two sides in history.
Sal Olivas tries to progress the ball for Union II vs CT United
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
Union II were heading into the game on the back of two 1-0 wins to start their season off strong, beating Toronto FC II and FC Cincinnati 2. CT United started their life out in MLS Next Pro with a strong win over FC Cincinnati 2, and then last week, lost to Chattanooga FC.
Coach Richter made more changes to his starting 11 for this game, with Giovanny Sequera making his first start of the 2026 season, coming into the back line of club captain Rafael Uzcategui, last week's goalscorer Finn Sundstrom, and pre-season signing Oliver Pratt. The midfield quartet stayed the same as it has all season, and the front two for this game were rising star Malik Jakupovic, with first-team player and Union II mainstay Sal Olivas partnering him.
Union II had gotten off to a quick start in both of their season-opening games, but the tale of this one would be different as CT United came flying out of the gates and went close to opening the scoring within the first 10 minutes. George Marks made a brilliant stop from a 1-on-1 chance and then followed it up with a good save from a header that was created from the corner conceded from his initial save.
CT United continued to pile on the pressure early doors, forcing Union II to try to physically disrupt them and find a foothold in the game. This led to both Oscar Benitez and Oliver Pratt being booked within a minute or two of each other. The free kick conceded from Pratt’s foul was almost a killer to Union II as CT United had the ball in the back of the net from it, but the goal was ruled out due to the offside flag being raised. A very close call for Union II, who had struggled to do anything in the opening 25 minutes of the game.
Just before the half-hour mark, Ryan Richter’s side finally managed to have their first decent chance of the game as Malik Jakupovic picked up the ball after some nice passing play from Union II, but his first shot from the left wing was comfortably blocked. Jakupovic wouldn’t be denied again when he had another chance right before halftime.
After some exceptional passing out from the back, Oliver Pratt played a fantastic ball down the left wing for Kellan LeBlanc to race onto the end of. LeBlanc got his head up and spotted Jakupovic free in the middle, threaded a ball right to the young forward, who took a touch around the defender and fired a shot with his left foot past the CT United goalkeeper to give the home side the lead right before halftime.
Malik Jakupovic scored again for Union II, his second goal in three games.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
The second half started, and it was complete chaos in the opening 15 minutes or so, with both teams going end to end at times. CT United ended up being the ones who took advantage of the game, losing any sort of shape as they equalised right around the 60th minute. After some good work down the wing and a great cross into the box from Laurie Goddard, Robbie Mara had an easy time finishing for the visitors’ levelling goal.
Things went from bad to worse for Coach Richter’s side as just a few minutes after CT United levelled the game, Union II found themselves down to 10 men after Oscar Benitez took his man out as CT United were on the counterattack, and Benitez was booked for a second time and shown a red card.
The red card to Benitez forced Ryan Richter into making a triple substitution and a complete reshaping of his team. Lennon Harrington, Matheus De Paula, and Nehan Hasan all came onto the pitch for Finn Sundstrom, Willyam Ferreira, and Malik Jakupovic.
The changes didn’t help Philly a single bit as CT United continued to pile on the pressure and create chance after chance, so Ryan Richter made a fourth substitution mere minutes after the triple substitution, this time bringing on Kaiden Moore to sure up the back line in place of Timo Mendoza.
George Marks was trying his best to keep Union II in the game and keep their point intact as he made a fantastic save from a chip attempt, after Union II’s defensive line was found out playing around with the ball at the back and losing it cheaply. Ryan Richter made his final substitution of the game just before the 80th minute when John Ruf came on for Sal Olivas, hoping to give his side some fresh legs to chase any clearances up the pitch.
Unfortunately for Ryan Richter and Union II, while it looked as if they would hold on for a point, it was in fact late heartbreak that awaited them as in the 86th minute a simple ball over the top of the defense found Barnabas Tanyi, who took a great touch and finished it past George Marks, who didn’t deserve to concede a 2nd goal after such a fantastic performance between the sticks.
The 2-1 loss to league newcomers CT United ended Union II’s undefeated start to the season and also meant CT United was the first team this 2026 season to score against Philly. Ryan Richter’s side will look to bounce back next Sunday when they face their first road trip of the season, just the short trip over state lines to face Red Bull New York, the side that beat Union II in last season’s postseason 2-1.
Philadelphia Union II lost their first match of the 2026 season, 2-1 vs newcomers CT United
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
