Folks, the Curse of Union Yards is real. Five straight games winless at home as the Union head into the break. Here’s all the sights and sounds of the match:
In a Montreal Minute
In what has become an all too familiar theme this season, the Union yielded an early goal to put the club behind. In this match, it only took one minute for CF Montreal’s Sunsi Ibrahim to tally. Lately, the Union have made it a point to focus on structure and that has led to some clean sheets of late. However, that may have come at the expense of some the offense; nevertheless, Philly has been in the midst of an unbeaten streak. Don’t tell Jim Curtin that though.
“It’s the worse four-game unbeaten streak I’ve ever had in the history of soccer,” Curtin said. “It doesn’t feel good right now, that should be a comfortable, close-out the game three points and we had some self-inflicted things.”
The boys in blue are now just 1-4-3 at home this season and surprisingly, an unbeaten 3-0-5 away from Subaru Park.
1-2 Punch
Daniel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre got Philly on the board in the second half within a minute of one another. Gazdag’s goal came on a penalty kick and is the Hungarian’s 50th career goal and 10th on the year. A moment later, Uhre scored with a right footed shot from the centre of the box to level the match. Uhre’s finish was particularly pretty, as the Danish forward took Montreal defender George Campbell one-on-one and made him fall with some deception. With Julian Carranza still ailing and others leaving for international play, Uhre is fixing to take on a larger role with the club in their absence.
“Mikael has had a good run of games,” Curtin said in post. “We’re going to need Mikael to be a big part of carrying the load offensively moving forward for sure.”
Uhre, 28, has five goals on nine shots for the season.
Jack’s Red
In the 66th minute of the second half, Jack Elliott made a hard tackle on Montreal’s Raheem Edward’s. Elliott won the ball, but injured Johnson in the process and bloodied him. A yellow card was initially given to Elliott, but the foul was upgraded to red on the field by official Ted Unkel for serious foul play. Ironically, the decision was made by Unkel only with no VAR review involved in the call.
“I don’t know why it was changed from a yellow to a red without anyone looking at anything,” Curtin said. “That was a little strange.”
Of course, on the re-start the Union conceded a goal to level the match once again. Philly went from being in complete control of the match to being knotted at two in quick succession.
When it’s bad, it’s all bad.
Even so, Philly has a case for an appeal should Elliott have to miss time due to the officiating blunder. Undoubtedly, VAR should have reviewed the call on the field.
They Said It
Jim Curtin on Playing the Conference leading Miami out of the break: “It’ll be tough. We’ll have to find a game plan that’ll make it hard for them. They obviously have some world-class talent even when Messi’s not here.”
Daniel Gazdag on Leaving for Euros when the club is struggling: “It would be so much better to go away if we had more points. I’ll have my fingers crossed for the guys.”
On Deck
The Union will head out on the International break for two weeks. The boys in blue will be back in action on June 15, when they play host to Inter Miami.
