Category: Soccer/Union

If you want to be optimistic about the Union, finding a way to scrape out a 2-0 win over CF Montréal on Saturday at Subaru Park gives you a reason.

So does Cavan Sullivan scoring in a third straight game, his seventh goal of the year in all competitions, and the fact that the win put the Union (7-10-6, 27 points) in ninth place, finally above the playoff line.

But if you’re still skeptical of this team’s true level, the rest of the night offered a pile of proof.

It was not a performance to sugarcoat, even as it took the unbeaten streak in league play to all eight such games of interim manager Ryan Richter’s tenure.

In truth, the quality — or lack of it — was what you’d have expected from the teams that entered the night in 12th and 14th place in the Eastern Conference.

There was Bruno Damiani’s latest pile of misses, especially a wide-open look in the middle of the 18-yard box in first-half stoppage time.

Then came Milan Iloski’s failure to score on a breakaway in the 75th, bailed out by Montréal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza fumbling the ball and Sullivan pouncing.

And in between the Union’s goals, Neil Pierre committed a soft but callable penalty kick foul, only for Montréal’s Prince Owusu to offer one of the worst attempts from the spot you’ll ever see.

A performance like that won’t cut it on Wednesday against FC Cincinnati (7:45 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV), the first time the Union will face a truly good opponent since Inter Miami — but without the buzz of Lionel Messi visiting, and the energy that brings to the players on the field.

Nor will it stand next Sunday at San Diego (9 p.m., Apple TV). Or in the five-game stretch next month against big teams that will likely define the season: at Chicago, home vs. Charlotte and New England, then at Nashville and Cincinnati.

Richter knew it, too, and didn’t hesitate to say so Saturday night.

“The reality is, you’re not going to show up and play your best game every single week,” he said. “And that was the case [Saturday night], that is true. But we also created enough chances to get the goals that we did, and then the guys came up in big moments.”

He acknowledged there had to be an “honest conversation” about it, especially after a first half where the Union were caught asleep defensively in the first two minutes and didn’t offer enough attacking-wise afterward.

Richter called Wednesday’s game “huge,” acknowledging its stakes and the spice that has simmered between the Union and Cincinnati in recent years.

“It’s a friendly rivalry, but it’s a chance for us against a really good team at home to show that we can compete with the next level of teams in the Eastern Conference,” he said.

There it was, as clear as could be: the next level of teams. A level the Union aren’t at.

The players were just as blunt.

Goalkeeper and captain Andre Blake said that at halftime, “there was a lot of chattering, because we knew that it wasn’t our best. … We just needed to find a way to figure out how to break them down.”

It took a scrappy set-piece goal to finally get through Montréal’s man-to-man defense, finished off by Danley Jean Jacques in the 58th.

“You’re going to have games like these where it’s difficult, different tests,” Blake said. “I’m just happy that we were able to find a way to get some goals. A win is a win.”

Sullivan concurred.

“The first half was — we put on some pressure, but it wasn’t a great game to play in, in all honesty,” he said. “It was just not a pretty game. In the second half, I think our defensive pressure raised the level, and that sets the tone for the rest of play.”

If this piece sounds too cynical for a team on an eight-game unbeaten run in the league, the apology from here will be limited. It’s the reality of what the Union face, and the scale of the task for a team that wants to have high standards for results.

As Sullivan said: “We know that there’s a lot of stuff on the line right now. Playoff spots, we’re in one now, but you can go up and down at any moment.”

And if you think you’ve heard this message before on these pages, you’re right. The point isn’t to be repetitive. It’s to be clear that as Philadelphia fans line back up for the Union bandwagon, they need to know there are much harder games ahead. Better to be realistic about that now, so that you won’t be surprised if the sting comes later.

It’s well known that LeBron James is a big-time soccer fan. He attends games in the NBA’s offseason, talks about the sport often on social media, and sat with Cristiano Ronaldo in Nike’s big World Cup ad this summer. He even has an investment stake in one of the world’s biggest clubs, Liverpool of the English Premier League.

There’s no word yet if the newest Sixers arrival will become a fan of the local team in his new home city. But Cavan Sullivan, the Union’s Bridesburg-bred teen phenom, is not shy about hoping it happens. So when he scored a goal in the Union’s 2-0 win over CF Montréal on Saturday at Subaru Park, he uncorked a celebration he’d been planning ever since James signed in Philadelphia.

Team photographer Kim Ahrens was keeping a bottle of chalk powder on the nearby sideline. Sullivan ran over to her, got the bottle, poured a handful of powder into his hands, and blew it up into the air — a tribute to James’ famed routine that he does before tipoff of all of his games.

Unfortunately for Sullivan, the breeze blowing in off the Delaware River meant there wasn’t as much of a cloud as James often creates in arenas. But the message was sent, and Sullivan talked about it after the game.

“I was waiting to do that for a while,” he said. “I just kept missing out on it, or I was away. Tonight, great crowd, I figured it was the perfect time.”

Indeed, while this was Sullivan’s third straight game with a goal — and seventh goal in all competitions this year — the last two were in road games, at Austin and Red Bull New York. This one was his first at Subaru Park since James picked Philadelphia as his final professional home.

No doubt the invitation has already been extended behind the scenes, since the Union and 76ers front offices know each other well. Sixers players have been regular visitors to Union games over the years, all the way up to another big-time soccer fan in Joel Embiid. Jaylen Brown follows the sport too, so he might also come to Chester at some point.

But it would be a huge scene if James decides to attend a game of a team whose ownership group includes one of his longtime friends, Kevin Durant.

“Got to get him to strike the drum, maybe follow me back on Instagram,” Sullivan quipped, his priorities clearly in order. But then again, James knew where to find Folarin Balogun on social media right away when he scored for the U.S. in the World Cup against Bosnia & Herzegovina, then did James’ “Silencer” celebration.

“We saw him shout out Balogun in the World Cup, so that sort of made me think of it,” Sullivan said.

Thankfully, Sullivan did not follow the rest of Balogun’s footsteps on Saturday by committing a red card-worthy foul against Montréal. But perhaps they’ll be able to swap LeBron stories if they’re both called up to the U.S. squad at the end of this month.

And perhaps, once James arrives in town later in the fall, he’ll decide to accept the invitation.

“This place is dope — environment like you’ve never seen before. No arena is like Subaru Park,” Sullivan said, laughing. “So yeah, pull up if you want to watch good soccer with Philly kids. It’s a nice culture around here.”

Goals from Danley Jean Jacques and Cavan Sullivan propelled the Union to a 2-0 win over CF Montréal on Saturday at Subaru Park. But while the result provisionally put the Union (7-6-10, 27 points) above the playoff line at the final whistle, it was a pretty ugly contest for most of the night.

The tone was set just two minutes in, when sloppy defending let Montreal put the ball in the net too easily. Fortunately for the hosts, they were let off the hook because former Union winger Fabian Herbers was offside in the buildup.

There was sloppy attacking, too, including Bruno Damiani missing three should-have-scored chances: two in the first quarter-hour and a wide-open look in first-half stoppage time.

In between, the game looked like one between the 12th- and 14th-place teams in the Eastern Conference, instead of one with the home team on a seven-game unbeaten run in league play.

The scoreless first half wasn’t caused by Montréal jamming the Union up, as it has a long history of doing to teams across MLS. This time, the Union did it to themselves: six shots, just one on target, and a 78% pass completion rate.

Jean Jacques finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute with a goal that was no prettier than the rest of the game, but got the job done. Kai Wagner swung a free kick over the 18-yard box from the right flank, it was headed around a few times, and eventually the ball fell to Jean Jacques to push home in traffic.

But the Union nearly threw away the lead eight minutes later. Neil Pierre put his hands into Hennadii Synchuk’s back, Synchuk went down in the box, and referee Chris Penso promptly called a penalty kick. Synchuk stayed down for a while, so the officials had plenty of time to review the call, and they judged it fair.

If you believe in the “ball don’t lie” theory of sports, you’ll appreciate what happened next. But even if you don’t, you’d find Prince Owusu’s penalty attempt shocking. He tried to chip it, and failed so badly that Andre Blake barely had to move to catch the ball.

Ryan Richter made his first substitutions right after that: Quinn Sullivan for Indiana Vassilev and Jesús Bueno for Jovan Lukić.

Cavan Sullivan scored his seventh goal of the year in the 75th, but that play also had its share of flaws.

Damiani sent Iloski on a breakaway after a nifty passing sequence through midfield, only for Iloski to try and fail to dribble around Montréal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza. Fortunately for the Union, Breza spilled the ball, and Sullivan was right there to pounce and hit a first-time shot.

Sullivan celebrated by receiving a bottle of chalk powder, taking a handful, and throwing it in the air LeBron James-style.

In the 82nd, Richter moved to close the game by sending in Alejandro Bedoya and Ezekiel Alladoh for Cavan Sullivan and Iloski. Malik Jakupović was the last sub, replacing Damiani in the 90th.

They did the job, and the Union could move on to a quick turnaround for their next game: Wednesday at home against FC Cincinnati. That will be the first really good team the Union have faced since Inter Miami.

With all the craziness in the soccer world, it can feel like there isn’t much good news out there. But this week, American fans are finally getting some.

MLS announced Wednesday morning that all 27 of its U.S.-based teams will compete in the U.S. Open Cup next year, returning the league to full standing in the national championship after three years of acrimony.

The league was in a protracted argument with U.S. Soccer, which runs the Open Cup, over a variety of factors from a lack of marketing to travel costs, revenue splits, and stadium standards.

The dispute led the nation’s top circuit to withdraw many of its clubs from the tournament from 2024-26. There were attempts to send reserve teams, and to exempt teams in the Leagues Cup and/or Concacaf Champions Cup in the name of schedule congestion. The Union were one of those teams this year.

None of it held water with fans who value the Open Cup’s special place as the only American soccer competition in which teams from every level can play against each other, similar to England’s FA Cup and other national cup tournaments around the world.

There was even a rare public rebuke from U.S. Soccer, making the league’s stubbornness look even worse.

Fans also value the Open Cup’s over 110 years of history, much of which was created in Pennsylvania. The state ranks No. 3 all-time for most Open Cup winners. Its famous teams down the decades include the Bethlehem Steel dynasty of the 1910s, and Philadelphia’s Ukrainian Nationals, German-Americans, and United German-Hungarians.

The list of great players is even longer: Archie Stark, Francis “Hun” Ryan, Walter Bahr, Walt Chyzowych, and Larry Sullivan — not just a great player and coach, but grandfather to the Union’s Quinn and Cavan Sullivan.

Larry’s son Brendan also played in the Open Cup in the 1990s, making three generations of the family to take part in the tournament.

In recent times, the Union have made three Open Cup finals: 2014, 2015, and 2018. But they haven’t yet joined their predecessors in lifting the trophy. Fans will hope the Sullivans and the club’s other academy products finally break through next year.

A pair of tournament rules changes could help the Union’s odds. Game-day rosters will expand from 18 to 20 players, and MLS teams can pick their squads from a wider range of first-team and reserve-squad prospects.

Next year’s Open Cup will be played in the midst of MLS changing its schedule to a winter-centric one. The Open Cup will change some too, though it will remain based on the calendar year for now.

MLS teams will enter the tournament in the round of 64, which will be played in July — during MLS teams’ preseasons for the 2027-28 campaign. Notably, all MLS teams will be at home for that round, which will help with advance ticket sales.

David Applegate, U.S. Soccer’s director of competitions told the Sports Business Journal that the governing body agreed to change its take of revenue to a flat fee instead of a percentage.

The pre-set home games will annoy fans of lower-division clubs hoping for upsets. But a reward will come after that: any lower-division team that makes the round of 32 will have priority to host. And there should be some lower teams still alive at that point, since having 27 MLS teams in a round of 64 means there won’t be a MLS team in every game.

The round of 32 will be played in September. The round of 16 isn’t set yet, but the remainder of the tournament is: quarterfinals in late November, semifinals on Dec. 1, and the final on Dec. 15. That could make for a cold title game, since it’s on a Wednesday night. But it could also be memorable.

“The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is one of the most powerful platforms we have to showcase what makes American soccer special,” U.S. Soccer chief operating officer Dan Helfrich said in a statement. “When you bring various levels of the soccer community together, you create a connected, competitive environment that moves the sport forward and gives fans the drama of knockout soccer.”