The Union’s 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday afternoon keeps Philly atop the Supporters’ Shield standings with 60 points. Let’s wrap on the contest:
Bruno Breaks Through
After a scoreless first half, forward Bruno Damiani broke the scoreless tie in the 71st minute with the lone goal of the match. The tally is Damiani 6th of the 2025 campaign. Offense and play creation were hard to come by, as Philadelphia had trouble making runs. Additionally, when they did find the space to operate, they launched 15 shots on goal while just four hit the target.
Despite this, it was Substitute Milan Iloski that chased down a pass from Frankie Westfield to set up the game winning goal before finding Damiani at the center of the box.
“Maybe it wasn’t the best game performance, but we won after a very tough weekend,” Damiani said. “We are happy for that.”
Gut Check Time
As Damiani alluded to, it has been an incredibly difficult week for the Union. Philly received a 7-0 drumming at the hands of Vancouver last Saturday. Then, the Union flew to Nashville for their Semifinal U.S. Open Cup matchup on Tuesday, which they also lost.
“A clean sheet after 97 minutes is exactly what the doctor ordered,” head coach Bradley Carnell said. “Football is about emotions and passions and you’re dealing with human beings. We’re not robots. Today, it was a little bit of a grind and good teams learn how to grind and get the result.”
With just three matches remaining, Philly needed a win today badly. In the past, we’ve seen the Union have losses like the ones they suffered earlier in the week and it snowball, dating back to last season. However, it does feel different with this group this season; they are a group that sticks together and usually galvanize one another in the guts of a game when things aren’t quite bouncing their way. Saturday’s bounce-back performance is a great example of this.
They Said It
Damiani on scoring goal of the season: “I’m very happy to score, but it’s a team effort that comes to a win.”
Indiana Vassilev on shifting to the sixth position: “I got to shift my mindset to a little bit more defensively, but it’s the same aggressiveness we want from the tens, pressing forward.”
Carnell on his message to the team at halftime: “The halftime chat was all about showing where space is and where space was in the first half. It didn’t change. We felt that we executed that much better in the second half. For that, I’m proud of the boys.”
Did You Know?
Per the club, Goalkeeper Andre Blake recorded his seventh clean sheet of the season. It is the Jamaican international’s 83rd MLS shutout of his career.
On Deck
The Union return to the pitch next Saturday , September 27th, when they head to D.C. in the nation’s capital at Audi Field. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Apple TV, MLS Season Pass.
