As I trod through a gravel parking lot, a gentle breeze blew off the Delaware River. I was surrounded by hundreds, nay, thousands of people donning blue and gold. There were tailgates as far as the eye could see. This, I thought to myself, is how it was meant to be. A line of fans wrapped around the Power Training Complex building sitting near the unmistakable Wharf building. Fans of every age, race, gender, and socioeconomic standing were represented. As kids waited with their parents and grandparents for their chance to tour the fitness room, video room, and the rest of the facility, it became apparent that this night would last a lifetime. To be honest, it brought back the feelings I had as a kid walking up to the Vet for the first time.

The hike to Talen Energy Stadium from the former Sons of Ben lot was full of everything you’d expect from a playoff football game: music blasting, the unmistakable smell of grilled meats, the merging of tailgates as games broke out in the parking lots. The diversity of the flags flying, music playing and food being grilled was something that was so unique to these lots. It doesn’t exist in any other tailgate of any other Philly team, at least not to this level. There was a distinct electricity powering the atmosphere around the stadium. There was a pride coursing through the veins of every single person who entered the stadium.

The Battle for First Place was about to unfold as the reigning, defending, undisputed MLS Champion Atlanta United entered a matchup with the often-mocked, nearly always overlooked, Philadelphia Union. Looking at the Tale of the Tape, it appeared to be as lopsided as you could imagine were it not for the standings that showed the teams even on points entering the game. Atlanta’s squad is backed by the incredible financial resources of Falcon’s owner Arthur Blank. Simply look up the Top 10 most expensive transfer fees in the history of the league and you’ll see Atlanta United listed four times. They set an MLS record ahead of their inaugural season, bringing in Miguel Almirón for $8.55m fee and later sold him off two years later for $27.36m to the EPL’s Newcastle United. The next year they broke that record with a $13.99m fee for Ezequiel Barco. The next year -you guessed it- they broke their own record again when they brought in Gonzalo “Pity” Martínez for another record-setting $15.05m. For the sake of comparison, the Union’s biggest off-season transfers were for midfielder Marco Fabián on a free transfer for $3.42m and forward Sergio Santos for $510k. They took a massive loss on their biggest acquisition from a year prior, David Accam, who cost a club-record $1.12m fee and was sold off for $509k. Their previous record-fee acquisition ($1.02m) and club captain Alejandro Bedoya, who earlier this season captured headlines for calling for gun control reform on a nationally televised game, was suspended for this match due to yellow card accumulation. The deck was stacked against the Union. Practically no one outside of the Greater Philadelphia area gave this team a shot.

But, you know what they say about underdogs.

The first half of the game was in line with what you might expect. With their captain missing, head coach Jim Curtin was forced shake up his Starting XI from a week prior. In fact, he admitted after the match that he had to juggle his lineup again due to two injuries that occurred the day before in training:

The question was whether dropping the dynamic magician Jamiro Monteiro back to play alongside Haris Medunjanin would pay off. Curtin also opted to start Fafa Picault on the right flank with 18-year-old homegrown Brenden Aaronson occupying the left. Marco Fabián -in the midst of an injury and suspension-riddled up-and-down season- was expected to link up play between the midfield and attacking third. It wasn’t a perfect first half from the Union, who conceded 64.7% possession to the favorite Atlanta. They did, however, have their chances in the first half including the aforementioned Fabián pinged a shot off the crossbar in the 10th minute:

The Union -and most of the assembled media- thought the Union had gone ahead in the 33rd minute off a nice buildup play between Monteiro, the team’s captain Medunjanin, forward Kacper Pryzbylko, and Fabián:

From where I sat, I knew that was coming back, and after a video review (#ThanksVAR), the goal was taken off the board. The team didn’t get down on themselves, mustering a  few more opportunities, including this scorcher from Pryzbylko:

Unfortunately for the Union, Atlanta has arguably the league’s most dangerous goal scorer in Josef Martínez, who entered the match having scored in twelve consecutive games:

Make that thirteen.

I expected a halftime substitution of one of the outside mids, which didn’t come to fruition. There were enough reasons to justify keeping Fafa Picault in the the game on the right, where he had been an absolute nightmare for Atlanta’s backline, but Aaronson had missed at least three streaking runs from Pryzbylko and Fabián that could’ve netted dangerous scoring chances with a properly-weighted through ball.

Just under sixteen minutes into the second half, Medunjanin lofted a gorgeous ball over Atlanta’s backline to a streaking Aaronson and a definitely-offside Pryzbylko:

For those wondering, it was confirmed by the lead official after the match that the play was allowed after having deemed Pryzbylko as not being actively involved in/interfering with the play. Momentum shifted in that moment. Things did get hairy for the Union when a miscommunication between center back Jack Elliott and goalkeeper Andre Blake led to an opportunity for Martínez to shoot on an empty net, albeit from a tough angle. Martínez was so embarrassed by missing the net that he rolled around in agony, grasping his hamstring as though it’d been severed by a bayonet.

In the 77th minute, Sergio Santos entered the match for the Blue & Gold. He hadn’t played in a game for the team since July 14 due to an ankle injury and was handed a match suspension after getting a red card while in a rehab game with Bethlehem Steel. Thankfully that suspension didn’t transfer to MLS competition, as Santos was immediately dangerous. He showed the explosiveness that made me view him a surefire start early in the season.

Leftback Kai Wagner, plucked from Germany’s third division by Sporting Director Ernst Tanner, set up the play with a straight ball to Santos’ diagonal run (that’s how you draw it up, kids). Santos guided the ball to the end line, cut it back to Kacper the Friendly Striker, who plowed through the ball with a powerful left boot past Brad Guzán for a 2-1 lead.

It got even better for the Union just two minutes later when “Brazilian Ben Affleck” Ilsinho found a sprinting Pryzbylko, who laid the ball off across the face of goal to a waiting Santos:

The Brazilian flexed on the Chester faithful like he was Cristiano Ronaldo, and just like that, the Union went up 3-1 and never looked back. This was a game that the Union historically never win. I think this win over Atlanta marks the fifth of such games this season alone.

For my money, Santos was the standout star. He spoke after the game about working hard to keep his confidence while recovering from injury and said of his performance (translated from Spanish):

Very happy. Moving around getting to set up the assist, scoring (the goal) is really important to build confidence, continuing to raise my (level of) play.

Medujanin said of Santos’ play:

“He just needs to know what his qualities are. He just needs to run at the backline. Every run behind the backline was dangerous. Sometimes he thinks he wants the ball in the field, but that’s not his quality. He needs to just run, make them tired, and chances will come. He runs in the box, he’s fighting… he had a great game.”

Head coach Jim Curtin also alluded to Santos’ need to stick to the gameplan, focus, and -similar to what Medunjanin said- know his role, if you will:

This team is a confident bunch and according to the 18-year-old Aaronson is so close-knit that falling behind doesn’t bother them. Aaronson is off to USMNT U-23 camp during this week’s international break. The rest of the squad will host Liga MX’s Pumas UNAM on Saturday in a friendly before hosting LAFC, whose 62 points and 19 wins lead the entire league.

It was an incredible evening and one that ranks as possibly the most important win in club history. As someone who once held season tickets and stood with the Sons of Ben for years, there was something about Saturday night’s win that vindicated an often downtrodden fan base. For this night at least, the Union asserted themselves as the real Beast of the East.

For more Philadelphia Union talk, check out It’s Always Soccer in Philadelphia with Kevin Kinkead.

https://art19.com/shows/its-always-soccer-in-philadelphia/episodes/442a41de-69ac-47eb-9048-a3ff3adfdc5c