Game Thread: Philadelphia Union 3 Orlando City 1 full time

This is a much needed win for the Union after dropping five of six points to start the second half of the season but if there is a complaint it’s that they really should have added to their goal differential playing against nine men for 23 minutes plus stoppage time.

82’ Uh oh. Fafa grabs his hamstring and calls for a substitution. Anthony Fontana comes on to make just his second MLS appearance this season and first since March.

73’ Sergio Santos into the game for Monteiro, who put in another solid outing but needed to leave early after that challenge from Sacha.

67’ Orlando City down to nine men now after Jim Curtin’s friend Sacha Kljestan leaves his feet to tackle Monteiro from behind.

65’ Marco Fabian into the game for Brenden Aaronson. Aaronson picked up his first career assist and was much sharper than he was in New England.

52’ Fafa Picault makes it 3-1. Monteiro found Aaronson in the box and he slipped it into Fafa, who blasted it upper shelf for his third goal of the season and second in his last two games. The rout is on.

47’ So much for that game plan. Kacper makes it 2-1 after Haris serves a long ball into the box and Alejandro Bedoya plays it back brilliantly to the Friendly Striker to hit it home for his second of the night and eighth of the season!

46’ Reading United alum Kamal Miller into the game for Orlando City for Nani of all people. Clearly, the game plan is to hold onto the draw.

45’ After review, Chris Penso makes the right call and changes the yellow to red. If his name rings a bell, it’s because Penso was the ref who sent Marco Fabian off with a straight red in the second week of the season at Sporting Kansas City.

43’ Robin Jansson just took out Fafa Picault on what looked like a DOGSO but only gets a yellow. VAR will take a look.

32’ Kacper Przybylko levels the score with a nice little piece of skill in the box to fake with his right and shoot with his left. That’s his seventh goal of the season and Jamiro Monteiro’s sixth assist to set it up.

26’ Haris Medunjanin goes into the book. Questionable yellow there. That’s his fourth yellow of the season.

25’ Mueller and Nani both have cracks at goal but fortunately neither is on target. Orlando City is looking dangerous in their attack in a game that has been pretty back and forth.

20’ Aaronson with a shot on goal off a quickly taken free kick but Brian Rowe makes another save and the ensuing corner doesn’t lead to much. Orlando back attacking the other way again.

12’ Kacper with a shot from outside the box that he didn’t appear to hit very well but still forces a diving save from the Lions goalkeeper. It’s been a pretty frantic pace so far in the early going.

9’ The Union in an early hole after a turnover from Auston Trusty leads to a Chris Mueller goal.

Preview

The Union are in Central Florida tonight, where they’ll open up a home-and-home with Orlando City SC. The eighth-place Lions have picked up three wins in their last five, bringing them within two points of a playoff position. They’ve struggled at home thus far this season: their 3-4-1 record is among the worst in the league.

Both sides played games on the road this past weekend. While the Union fell to NYCFC in Yankee Stadium, Orlando beat a struggling Columbus Crew SC. With that being said, some rotation may be on the cards tonight, but the extended summer break makes that possibility less likely.

Starting Lineups

Projected Starting Lineups

Philadelphia Union: Matt Freese; Ray Gaddis, Jack Elliott, Auston Trusty, Kai Wagner; Haris Medunjanin, Jamiro Monteiro, Alejandro Bedoya, Brenden Aaronson; Fafa Picault, Kacper Przybylko

Orlando City (via The Mane Land) Brian Rowe; Danilo Acosta, Lamine Sane, Robin Jansson, Ruan; Sebas Mendez, Will Johnson, Dillon Powers; Nani, Tesho Akindele, Chris Mueller

How to Watch

Where: Exploria Stadium Stadium, Orlando, Florida
When: 7:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday, July 3, 2019
TV: PHL1
Streaming: ESPN+ (blackout restrictions apply)
Radio: Union Radio

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Injuries/Absences

Philadelphia Union
Out: Warren Creavalle (M) - right foot fracture
Out: Olivier Mbaizo (D) - (left knee meniscus/LCL sprain
Questionable: Ilsinho (M) - left adductor strain
Questionable: Michee Ngalina (F) - lower body injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: Jack Elliott (D), Alejandro Bedoya (M)
International duty: Andre Blake (GK)

Orlando City
Out: Cristian Higuita (M) - hamstring injury
Questionable: Joao Moutinho (D) - quad injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: Robin Jansson (D)
International duty: None

Officials

Referee: Christopher Penso
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Hanson, Mike Rottersman
Fourth Official: Elvis Osmanovic
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic