Behind key saves from goalkeeper Oliver Semmle, Philadelphia Union earned a shutout draw at Charlotte FC to extend their league-best road form.
Philadelphia Union kicked off its Memorial Day Weekend with a trip to the Carolines for an Eastern Conference clash with Charlotte FC. Head Coach Jim Curtin sent out a lineup catered toward the team’s attacking strength, featuring Mikael Uhre, Julian Carraza, and Daniel Gazdag, who’d combined for 19 of the team’s 25 goals so far in 2024. Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, and Leon Flach started in the midfield, while the backline remained unchanged from a week ago at New England.
The first ten minutes were a display of Charlotte’s stalwart defense that’d previously put up four straight clean sheets, but Uhre nearly broke through it, attempting take the ball up the sideline, but it just barely went out of play. The Union flexed their defensive prowess shortly after, with Elliott making a diving tackle in the 10th minute, stopping Charlotte’s leading goal scorer, 23-year-old forward Patrick Agymenag, in his determined pursuit of a goal. Semmle made a big play a minute later, saving a close-range shot from Nikola Petkovic.
While the homeside owned the majority of the possession in the opening half it was Philly that owned the best scoring opportunity with a quick build up in the 18th minute. Homegrown Quinn Sullivan set off the chain of events for the Boys in Blue, delivering a throw-in to Jack McGlynn. Putting the ball on his magical left foot, the midfielder pinged a volley into the box that Carranza was first to connect with. The Argentine forward headed the ball right into the path of Gazdag but the Hungarian saw his one-timer denied by a reaction stop from Kristijan Kahlina.
Charlotte took two corners in a span of minutes, but the second one almost created a Union goal as Carranza got the rebound and dashed through the middle of the field toward their attacking end. He was taken down by a Charlotte defender, but got a pass off to Uhre first, who darted down the left side before attempting a pass through the box, but it was intercepted by Charlotte’s defense.
The already high-intensity match added another layer of competition, when McGlynn was shown a yellow card for time wasting amidst a restart-related scuffle with a Charlotte player readying to throw the ball in.
Though typically most threatening because of their defense, Head Coach Dean Smith’s squad laid on the attack as halftime crept closer taking multiple shots, but the Union countered with locked-down defense and good goalkeeping from Semmle, keeping them scoreless through the first 30.
The game started to open up with end to end action just after that mark in the 31st minute, the Union’s homegrown lefty brought his aggression to the attacking end – McGlynn wound up and took a massive blast with his left foot from far outside the box, forcing Kahlina to dive for a save near the bottom right post. Less than a minute later it was center back Jack Elliottt made another massive stop in the 32nd minute, preventing Agymenag’s attempts to maneuver around him, with help from Gazdag who stuck a foot in to shake his control. The action continued for the Union as another Homegrown hit a strong strike toward Kahlina – Uhre passed upfield to Sullivan, who beat his defensive marker for a shot from the top right corner of the box, but it was saved by the 31-year-old Croatian keeper.
The tactical chess match between Curtin and Dean Smith continued in the second half with both coaches looking for young playmakers on the right flank to set up scoring opportunities. Leon Flach delivered a key tackle early in the final half, timing his sliding attempt perfectly in the 52nd minute to cut short a run from Iuri Tavares’ run with a diving tackle, then quickly bouncing back up to regain possession for the team.
The game saw both sides again go up and down the turf around the hour mark with Carranza opting for a long-range attempt that went wide of the Charlotte FC net. Seven minutes later, Carranza was again presented with a scoring chance as the Union’s front press saw Gazdag intercept a pass in the defensive third. The Hungarian threaded the ball into the box for the Union’s No. 9 but with a tight angle the ball went right into the keeper.
Staying stride for stride with one another on the sidelines, Curtin and Smith made their first alterations of the contest with just 20 minutes remaining in the match. The Union turned to team captain Alejandro Bedoya for Mikael Uhre, while Charlotte’s leader made two changes simultaneously, sending on Tyger Smalls and Scott Arfield. The move propelled Sullivan into the Union’s front line alongside Carranza as the Boys in Blue sought a potential go-ahead goal.
Both sides continued to trade half chances until late in the match where both defenses rose to the occasion that led to both sides splitting the points. Charlotte FC captain Ashley Yearwood blocked an attempt from the Boys in Blue in the 84th minute and then a minute later a quick counter attack from Gazdag and substitute Chris Donovan were denied by in front of goal from center back Adilson Malanda.
On the other end it was Semmle coming up big to see out his second clean sheet in a row for the Boys in Blue. With two minutes remaining in regulation the German keeper was perfectly positioning to deny a counter attack effort from the hosts and then got a big stop against Arfield right at the death to send the club back to Philly still unbeaten on the road.
