Along with collecting three points with a second-half comeback at CF Montreal, Philadelphia Union fans got to see the league debut for forward Mikael Uhre on Saturday afternoon. The 27-year-old got his first minutes on Canadian soil as he entered for Sergio Santos in the 68th minute of Satuday’s 2-1 win.
While he only played 22 minutes and the majority came with the club down a man, Head Coach Jim Curtin said that it was a successful debut for the Danish forward as he got to see what MLS is really all about.
“I joked to him and said look, especially at the end of [MLS] games, it gets crazy,” Curtin said during his postgame press conference. “There was a lot of space out there even though we were down a man so he was going to get breakaways if we were doing our jobs and playing through him.”
Uhre’s debut was highlighted just as his coach predicted with Montreal pushing for a late equalizer which had the forward just one pass away from a possible goal. Uhre’s first touches of the match came in that fashion as he got free in the 76th minute, fighting off a defender before firing a shot just wide of the near post. Moments later, there was another scoring chance that Curtin said could have been better but he sees the talent immediately.”
“If I’m being critical, I think he was excited on the one where maybe he just slides it across and we get the tap in but you can never fault a striker for going for goal,” Curtin said. “In that moment maybe to ice the game the right move is to square it. We will look at the replay but overall, yeah, good work you can tell he’s going to get better and better.”
Uhre and the Boys in Blue now turn their attention this week as they prepare to return to Subaru Park on Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with tickets still available for Uhre’s home debut.
