Three years ago today, Philadelphia Union racked up the offense making for a memorable UNIBET Day in Union history. Brian Carroll concluded his MLS career seeing the Boys in Blue net six goals against Orlando City SC. Below is the original match recap as it appeared on PhiladelphiaUnion.com.
Philadelphia Union erupted for half a dozen goals against Orlando City on Sunday afternoon at Talen Energy Stadium in front of a sold out crowd. The 6-1 beat down improved Philadelphia’s record to 11-14-9 this season, matching their record and point total from last season.
Before the match began, Philadelphia held a ceremony for Union and MLS legend Brian Carroll who announced his retirement this week. The Union legend recorded his 371st appearance in the 45th minute of play. Carroll finishes his career as the Union all-time leader in minutes played. He has also played the fourth most games in MLS history.
The Union got on the board early and often to start the match. In the third minute of play, the Union attack started with rookie Marcus Epps sending a ball up the far sideline to the feet of Alejandro Bedoya. The Captain found Ilsinho in the box and the Brazilian took care of the rest, burying home the first goal of the game in the third minute of action.
Three minutes later, it was Ilsinho again on the scoring parade, this time as the facilitator. Ilsinho lifted a pass towards a flying Fafa Picault who slammed home a header, beating the Orlando goalkeeper to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes of the match.
2016 Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake flexed his muscles in the eighth minute as he denied Dom Dwyer at the doorstep, keeping the match at 2-0. In the 26th minute, fans in attendance witnessed history. Picault ran down a ball from Fabinho on the near side and sent in a pass to a wide open CJ Sapong, who buried home his 15th goal of the season, setting the club record for goals scored in a season. Sapong’s goal was also his 12th at Talen Energy Stadium, setting a club record for goals scored at home in a season.
The Union scored their fourth and final goal of the first half came after capitalizing on an Orlando mistake. The Orlando defense inadvertently headed a ball backwards; Picault raced towards the Orlando zone and netted home his second goal of the match. The whistled sounded seven minutes later for halftime with the Union leading 4-0.
In the second half it was more of the same for Philadelphia. Ilsinho found himself with wide open space all alone in the Orlando zone with just the keeper to beat after a pass from Haris Medunjanin. He beat the keeper to give Philadelphia the 5-0 lead, scoring his second goal of the night in the 63rd minute.
In the 72nd minute, Orlando got one back thanks to Dwyer, but two minutes later Sapong reclaimed the five-goal lead for Philadelphia. Sapong finished the season with 16 goals as the Union cruised to a 6-1 victory in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,895.
