On Friday, April 13, Philadelphia Union fell 2-0 in their fourth home match of the season at Talen Energy Stadium. The loss ended up being the Union’s first defeat at home this year as the team now holds a 1-2-2 record with five points. Philadelphia will hit the road next to face FC Dallas on April 21st.
The Union started with the same Starting XI that played the San Jose Earthquakes on April 7th and came firing out the gate, as defender Keegan Rosenberry attempted a shot in the second minute that was saved by Orlando goalkeeper Joe Bendik. Orlando countered with a great look in the eighth minute of the match as midfielder Stefano Pinho took a shot that was beautifully deflected by Union defender Jack Elliott off the line, preventing the goal.
Philadelphia got a great chance in the 16th minute as midfielder David Accam made a move at the top of the box to free himself for a shot that was saved by Bendik. The Union remained aggressive in the beginning of the first half as they attempted nine shots in the first 20 minutes.
In the 25th minute, Philadelphia created another great opportunity as forward CJ Sapong gave a perfect through ball to Accam, who narrowly missed his shot wide left. The Union defense was stifling in the beginning of the first half as it only let up two shots in the first 25 minutes.
However, the scoreless streak was broken in the 38th minute as Orlando forward Dom Dwyer snuck a shot past Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake off an assist from midfielder Sacha Kljestan to put the Lions up 1-0.
Just before the end of first half, the Lions struck again, as Chris Mueller scored his second goal of the season in the 45thminute. The tally closed out a 2-0 lead for Orlando in the first half.
After a slow start to the second half for both teams, with no shots in the first nine minutes, the Union created a beautiful opportunity as midfielder Borek Dockal sent a perfect through ball in the 54th minute to midfielder Fafa Picault on the right side, who tried to put it in the left corner of the net. The shot was stopped of a diving save from Bendik.
Philadelphia kept the pressure on as midfielder Alejandro Bedoya hit a strike in the 62nd minute off a pass from Sapong that was saved again by Bendik. The Union’s defense was locked in for the second half as they did not allow a shot on goal for the entire 45 minutes, highlighted by Blake’s intervention as he intercepted an Orlando through ball near the box in the 73rd minute.
In the 84th minute, Philadelphia got another great scoring opportunity as Dockal got the ball inside the box of a deflection but ended up missing his strike wide right. He also had another great opportunity at the end of stoppage time as he hit a shot off of a great pass from Ilsinho inside the box that was again stopped by Bendik, who made six saves on the evening.
The Union were unable to find the scoresheet and fell to Orlando 2-0. Philadelphia will be away next weekend as they will play in their second road match of the season against FC Dallas on Saturday, April 21 at Toyota Stadium.
