Union II Hammer Atlanta United 2 5-0, Extend Unbeaten Start to Season

A very rare Monday Night MLS Next Pro game for Marlon LeBlanc and his Union II side, as they took on Atlanta United 2 on the road. The Baby Snakes were looking to keep their unbeaten start to the season alive and make it 5 unbeaten. Find out below if they could do so or not.

Philadelphia Union II 5 – 0 Atlanta United 2

Rotation from the side that earned a 1-1 draw and an extra point from the shootout was expected given the quick turnaround from Thursday to Monday and that’s what happened when the lineups were released. 

Chris Donovan returned to the UII side for the first time this season and was joined by his senior team teammate Markus Anderson, as Marlon LeBlanc handed a well-earned rest for prolific duo Sal Olivas and Eddy Davis III. Carlos Rojas also came into the starting XI, after impressing as a second-half substitute against Orlando. Neil Pierre was the solo U17 team member to return to the squad since winning the GA Cup, earning a spot on the bench.

A Dominant 1st half, but just 1 goal

Union II enjoyed the better of the first 10 minutes or so of action, with Atlanta struggling with the high-pressing system from Marlon LeBlanc’s side. Chris Donovan thought he was through on goal, but John Berner read the ball well and came out to stop Donovan’s chances of getting to the long ball. No real chances happened in the opening 15 minutes, Vazquez fired high and wide from the edge of the box but that was all for action for both sides. 

The first big chance for either side came in the 18^th minute, and it was for Philly. Vazquez’s initial corner was punched out by Berner in goal, but Vazquez collected it. Vazquez put in a much better ball the 2^nd time around and Chris Donovan rose to head it home convincingly to give Union II the lead. 

Atlanta piled on the pressure after Philly took the lead but nothing too serious threatened Rick Jr. A few good crosses in the box just missed their targets and the best chance that fell to Atlanta during this period of pressure was from a corner, but all 3 shots on goal were blocked easily by Union players. 

Union II started to control the game, even when they were out of possession, forcing Atlanta to play into the areas Philly wanted them to play into. Union II came close to a 2^nd just over 5 minutes from half-time when Westfield, Anderson, and Olney linked up with some quick passes before Olney could only put his shot right at the goalkeeper. 

Bit of a scare for Marlon LeBlanc’s side at the death of the first half. Luke Brennan managed to round Berdecio as the last man during a counter-attack from a Philly corner. He then went around 2 more recovering defenders before being put under pressure by last man Berdecio. Brennan hit the deck and was claiming for a free kick and a red card for Berdecio but the ref saw nothing in it and the game paused 1-0 to Union II heading into the 2^nd half.

A four-goal thumping of a 2nd half!

Markus Anderson was replaced at half-time by in-form striker Eddy Davis III after Anderson seemed to pick up a little knock in the first half, just after Donovan opened the scoring. 

Speaking of Eddy Davis and him being in form right now, 3 minutes after coming onto the pitch, he took down CJ Olney’s header across the box and saw his initial shot saved, before impressively leaping in the air and heading the rebound home for his 3^rd goal in the opening 5 games and Union II found themselves with a 2-0 lead.

Union II didn’t let their foot off the gas after taking a 2-0 lead and after a fast-paced attack, Philly found themselves with a free kick just over 20 yards away from goal. CJ Olney stood over the free kick and curled the free kick into the corner beautifully to put Marlon LeBlanc’s side 3-0 up. A seriously impressive start to the 2^nd half from the Baby Snakes.

Atlanta put some pressure back on Philly after Olney’s fantastic free kick, but the best chance was a long-range effort that bounced awkwardly in front of Rick Jr, but the talented Union II keeper pushed it out for a corner.

While Atlanta started to commit bodies forward to try and get some sort of foothold in the match, more and more space was opening up for Union II’s forward line and just before the 65^th minute, Chris Donovan was put through 1-on-1 with Berner, and managed to put the ball past the keeper to put Union II 4-0 up. Complete dominance from Malon LeBlanc’s side. 

A triple substitution was made by Marlon LeBlanc just before the 70^th minute. Nick Pariano, David Vazquez, and Jamir Berdecio were all replaced by Giovanny Sequera, Kyle Tucker, and Gavin Wetzel.

It looked like Union II would just see out the end of the game, but captain Kyle Tucker had other plans. After a quick counter-attack, Philly had a free kick in pretty much the exact spot Olney’s goal was scored from. Tucker, who’s a phenomenal free-kick taker, and who had to watch Olney score his from the bench earlier, reminded everyone who the best free-kick taker is on the roster and stuck his free-kick into the top corner. 5-0 Union II and this is the best performance I’ve seen from a Union II side, just complete brilliance on both sides of the ball.

86 minutes in and Sanders Ngabo, who had an impressive performance tonight in my opinion, was replaced by Neil Pierre, who was making his first appearance since winning the GA Cup with the U17s. Marlon LeBlanc’s side saw out the remaining few minutes and convincingly won the game, 5-0 the final scoreline, and UII’s unbeaten streak stayed alive.

Next up for Philly is a home game against New York Red Bulls II on Sunday, a clash between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference!

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Mandatory Credit: Julian Alexander/Atlanta United via Philadelphia Union II