Rate the U: Nine-man nightmare in Atlanta

Ordinarily, there wouldn’t be a lot of positives to find in a 3-1 loss, but considering the circumstances the Philadelphia Union found themselves in when they went down to nine men in the 19th minute, the 3-1 final ended up being somewhat respectable.

Anyone who has followed the Union or the league would have been unwise to predict anything but a Union loss in Atlanta so while the result was expected the way it happened was anything but.

After a decent opening 15 minutes, the wheels fell off for the Union in the 19th minute when Alejandro Bedoya received a second yellow for a delay of game on a penalty kick he was protested. The sending off of Bedoya enraged Haris Medunjanin, who talked himself into two red cards and most likely a suspension.

The nine players were left with a herculean task of trying to keep the most prolific offense in MLS from raining goals on the short-handed Union.

All things considered, the team stepped up and performed admirably. Two of the three goals surrendered were penalty kicks and Fafa Picault made things interesting when he cut the lead in half in the 52nd minute with a great finish off a ball floated into the box by substitute Warren Creavalle.

That the final score was only 3-1 ended up being a small victory for the Union. But what did you make of the individual performances? Weigh in at the Ranker website.