Rate the U: A team effort defeats Charlotte FC

When assessing the performance of the Philadelphia Union in their 2-0 win over Charlotte FC on Saturday night, it’s hard to find anything but positive from the overall team effort but it’s also not easy to pick a clear player of the game.

Julian Carranza scored the game-winning goal in the fourth minute off a great pass from Kai Wagner and run by Sergio Santos to get behind the defense. He was named to the MLS Team of the Week, but strong performances were easy to find across the field for the unbeaten Union.

Daniel Gazdag was gifted a goal with a terrible pass by the Charlotte keeper Kristijan Kahlina but the pressure from Santos and Carranza didn’t leave Kahlina many options (hitting long being the only safe bet). Jose Martinez may have been fortunate to not get a red card but beyond the yellow card was solid and both homegrowns on the right side — Quinn Sullivan and Nathan Harriel put in promising shifts with captain Alejandro Bedoya out.

Goalkeeper Andre Blake and the center back pairing of Jakob Glesnes and Jack Elliott had a relatively quiet night with Charlotte only registering one shot on goal but that’s just another sign of how well the forwards and midfielders played in limiting Charlotte’s chances going forward. Credit goes to head coach Jim Curtin in how he prepared for a team the Union has never played before and responded to in-game adjustments to maintain the shutout and give the home fans plenty to cheer about.

What did you think of the individual performances on Saturday?

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