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Five Thoughts from a Negadelphia Draw Between the Philadelphia Union and Lionel Messi F.C.
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Twice the Philadelphia Union have played well against star-studded Inter Miami this season, but they only have one point to show for it.
The U were up 3-1 on Miami Saturday night in Chester, but conceded twice late to settle for a 3-3 draw. They remain unbeaten through nine games in all competitions, but they’ve dropped home points against contenders in recent weeks, which could have ramifications in the Supporters’ Shield race, should the Union still be in contention come September and October.
Five thoughts from a game that had a lot going on:
1. You can’t switch off against the U
It was apparent as early as the season opener that the U would punish teams that experience brain farts or lackadaisical moments. It was the hallmark of every successful Jim Curtin team and continues to be the hallmark with Bradley Carnell’s squad.
On the second Union goal, Indiana Vassilev, Tai Baribo, and Mikael Uhre simply outhustle the Miami defense. After a hopeful diagonal into the box, 6’0″ Ian Fray allows the 5’8″ Vassilev to knock the ball down, then it bounces three times before Uhre comes in and picks Gonzalo Lujan’s pocket:
The Union will score these goals all season long. If you’re defending against this team and you’re casual in your own box, or not showing a lack of urgency, or that tingly spider sense isn’t at a heightened level, they’re going to swarm you and jar the ball loose and score. It’s happened over and over and over again through 15 league games. At some point, teams will wake up and realize that you have to be on DEFCON 1 whenever you are in your own box, with or without the ball.
2. Can you have two breakout years in a row?
As much as we talk about Golden Boot leader Baribo, and the box-to-box duo of Danley and Jovan Lukic, and Kai Wagner and everyone else, the most consistent performer for the Union this season is Quinn Sullivan, who scored a banger on Saturday night and now has two goals to go along with his seven assists, the latter tied for 2nd in Major League Soccer.
This is coming off a season in which he had career highs of five goals and 11 assists, so it feels strange to say that he’s having a “breakout” year, but this feels like a further breakout on top of what we watched in 2024. He’s pacing out at about five goals and 16 assists and will likely set new career highs for starts, minutes, key passes, and shots on target as well. He seems to be thriving as a more traditional wide midfielder in what amounts to an empty bucket 4-4-2 formation, while in Curtin’s setup he seemed like a tweener – not necessarily an 8, but not a 10 and not a forward either. This is the most effective and most comfortable he’s looked since making his first team debut, and his form earned him a USA senior team call up.
3. Andrew Rick and wall philosophy
Lionel Messi scored Miami’s second goal on a well-struck free kick that beat Andrew Rick to the non-wall wide. You can see in the setup here that Rick had four in the wall and that Wagner dropped off at the last minute to protect the inside post, should Messi lift it over the wall:
This is a shot that Rick should probably save. It was hit hard, and he did get his hands on it, but you’re expected to stop anything to the non-wall side.
That being said, I do wonder if Luis Suarez affected his vision at all, because when Wagner drops off, he’s now playing Suarez onside, and Suarez can’t be whistled for affecting the goalkeeper as an offside player. That’s the give and take of dropping a player back to the post. You lose the offside line, but give yourself another body in the goalmouth itself. Different strategies for different teams. Maybe we can get a more in-depth explanation at Carnell’s midweek press conference.
4. The coffin is begging to be nailed
Miami went all out in attack to claw back those two late goals, which left them exposed on the counter. The Union just couldn’t put the final nail in the coffin. The coffin was just laying there, exposed, and the nails were sticking out. But Lukic hit the crossbar on a late effort while Danley shanked a free header that would have ended the game and secured all three points.
They’ve had moments this season when they’ve really stressed teams that are throwing bodies forward in attempts to equalize, getting out in transition with numbers especially, but they’ve missed some great opportunities to drop the dagger. Gotta continue to execute late, when the legs are tired and you’re almost out of gas.
5. Lucky bounces, weak challenges
Sometimes as a defender you read a play perfectly, sniff it out, and in comes the challenge. Then the ball ricochets off the opponent’s leg or shin and squirts by and you’re now up shit’s creek without a paddle despite doing everything right. That’s what happened on the third Miami goal, because Lukic steps in well here, the challenge just doesn’t come off:
Heavy legs maybe. He just doesn’t get much on the ball and the challenge takes him past the player, which leaves Jakob Glesnes sliding in a last-ditch effort to block the shot, but no dice.
The Union remain in first place in the Eastern Conference after matchday 15 with 30 points and a 2.0 point-per-game number. Both numbers are second only to the Vancouver Whitecaps out in the west. But the home draws against Columbus and Miami are the difference between 30 and 34 points, and if you watched the U in 2022, you know how slim the Shield margins are. Jim Curtin’s team scored 72 goals and conceded just 26 that year, good for a ridiculous +46 goal differential. They lost it on a fugazi tiebreaker to LAFC, when just one more point would have done it for them. You hope it’s not the case this time around.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com