Philadelphia Union coach Jim Curtin frequently borrows the March Madness term “Survive and Advance” when talking about his team playing in knockout style tournaments. The team lived up to the phrase and then some on Thursday evening, playing DC United to a 0-0 draw and squeaking by on a 5-4 tally in a penalty kick shootout at Subaru Park in Chester. Olivier Mbaizo scored the game winner in the 6th round of kicks bringing the silver lining of victory out of an ugly, smashmouth, poorly officiated match.
The Union got a good chance early on in the 4th minute when Mikael Uhre got a through ball on the left side of the midfield with nobody around him and was able to dribble up for a 1 on 1 faceoff with DC goalie Alexander Bono but Uhre was not able to get off a clean shot until about two steps too late so Bono easily made the save. DC’s best chance came in the 11th minute when Jackson Hopkins fired off a long range shot from outside the box which was heading for the top left corner of the net until Andre Blake made a leaping save to knock the ball over the crossbar. After these chances the game settled into an ugly slog of a match for the remainder of the half without much offensive action on either side until shortly before halftime in the 45th minute. Christian Benteke took a shot from the center of the box while Blake was already on the ground but Blake was able to redirect the shot so it could roll wide right to safety and preserve the 0-0 score at halftime.
In the 61st minute a Gazdag shot from outside the box was saved by Bono in the top middle of the net, setting up a strange sequence that would play out over the next few minutes. In the 65th after multiple crazy bounces leaving the net open and a rush to get to the ball which ultimately bounced into the net for what appeared to be a Union goal but it was ruled a hand ball on Jackson Hopkins before the ball crossed the goal line, while being simultaneously fouled by Julian Carranza, waving off the Union goal but setting up a free kick which came up empty. With the Subaru Park crowd getting more and more frustrated by the officiating with vulgar chants getting progressively louder, tensions came to a boil in the 67th minute. Daniel Gazdag fielded the ball and was knocked down by Chris Durkin with no call. Gazdag retaliated by pulling Durkin down to the pitch and jumping on him which earned Gazdag a yellow card amid a gathering of players from both teams yelling at each other. In a microcosm of just how strange this game was, Jose Martinez of all players was the peacemaker pulling Gazdag away from the pack before he earned more cards. The Union’s last chance came in stoppage time when a corner kick set up a chance for Chris Donovan but his shot went high over the net, bringing regulation to a close with a scoreless draw and setting up a penalty kick shootout to decide the winner.
DC went first in each round of PKs as the road team. Christian Benteke scored first in the bottom left, and then Daniel Gazdag’s shot towards the bottom right was saved, showing Gazdag actually is human and can miss a penalty kick, putting the Union in a surprising 1-0 hole. Mateusz Klich, Julian Carranza, Derrick Williams, and Jack Elliott each traded successful kicks setting up Round 4 and Chris Durkin taking a chance for DC and failing to convert with his shot sailing over the top left of the crossbar. Jack McGlynn followed with a beautiful stutter step fake before firing his kick to the center of the net to tie the shootout 3-3 after four rounds. Eric Davis and Jesus Bueno both scored in Round 5, bringing up Pedro Santos for DC in the top of Round 6. Santos hit the right post bringing up Olivier Mbaizo with a chance to win. Mbaizo put his kick in the top left of the net for the Union to survive and advance by the closest possible margin.
News and notes:
- This was the second match between Philadelphia and DC at Subaru Park ending in a 0-0 draw this season, with the first coming in an MLS match on May 17. The teams will play a third time in DC in a few weeks on August 26 shortly after league play resumes. Philadelphia outscored DC a combined 13-0 in their two matches last season.
- DC United forward Taxi Fountas remains on “administrative leave” from the team while MLS continues to investigate an incident from their July 15 match against New England where according to Pablo Maurer of The Athletic, Fountas was alleged to have directed a racial slur at teammate Nigel Robertha during the game resulting in an altercation in the locker room between them where Robertha struck Fountas with a foam massage roller.
- This is the second allegation of Fountas using racial slurs in a match, where Miami defender Aime Mabika accused Fountas of yelling a slur at his teammate Damion Lowe (who now plays for the Union). MLS investigated for 8 weeks before determining that the accusation was “credible” but “could not conclusively prove” that Fountas used the slur, so he was cleared of wrongdoing.
- The Union’s next match is the Leagues Cup Round of 16 on Monday evening August 7 at Subaru Park against the Red Bulls of New York. All Leagues Cup matches are streamed on Apple TV+.