A bad weekend in Vancouver had turned into a bad week for the Philadelphia Union.
For the second straight game, the Union allowed a hat trick, this time to Nashville Sam Surridge, in a 3-1 loss at GEODIS Park in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup Tuesday night.
It’s the third time that Nashville has beaten the Union this season. On the heels of the Union’s 7-0 loss to the Whitecaps, that’s 10 goals conceded in two games for a club that had given up 30 goals in the first 32 games in all competitions. The Union hadn’t given up a hat trick since Oct. 1, 2022 (four goals by Daniel Rios of Charlotte), but have now done it in consecutive games, with Thomas Muller scored three times at the weekend.
The Union’s heartbreak in the Open Cup continues. It’s the fifth time they’ve made the semifinals without lifting the Cup. They lost in the final in 2014, 2015 and 2019, the first two in Chester.
The Union were again undone by a cheap concession in the 36th. Where in Vancouver they allowed the opening goal on a corner kick and the second goal off a penalty committed while defending a corner, it was a long throw this time. Surridge peeled off the shoulder of center back Jakob Glesnes, heading home the throw flicked on by Jeisson Palacios.
Surridge was in the right place at the right time in the aftermath of a corner kick in the 50th, the ball finding him to head home on the doorstep. He had a shot deflected in the 68th that was correctly wiped off for an offside, deflecting off an offside Jacob Shaffleburg, but he got his hat trick on a deep cross from Daniel Lovitz in the 85th.
The Union started slowly once again. They didn’t have a shot through the first hour. Their first real threat with a beauty of a curler from outside the box scored by Quinn Sullivan, cutting inside to his right foot to nestle it into the corner of the net.
But the Union did more fouling than attacking. They were whistled for five yellow cards, Bruno Damiani lucky not to see red in the fifth minute for a high tackle, or to get a second yellow for reaching out to bat down Surridge’s second goal despite being beyond the goal line.
Within five days, the Union have gone from in control of their destiny in two competitions to out of one and on the back foot in the other. They still lead the Supporters’ Shield standings. But coupled with Inter Miami beating Seattle in the league Tuesday and Vancouver’s surge, they’re under more pressure there. The Union resume league play Saturday at Subaru Park against New England.
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment