(Photo courtesy of Carl Gulbish)
For the second-straight league game, the Philadelphia Union went down a goal, finished with ten men, and walked off the field on the losing end, leaving questions about a team that successfully executed their style of play for much of last season.
Though the Union’s first game on the road against a motivated opponent with something to prove played into D.C. United’s hands, Sunday afternoon’s game felt different because the Union were the motivated opponent with something to prove. Playing against a talented New York City FC side that turned Subaru Park into a church pew on a Sunday morning after a 1-0 win in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals, the Union had an opportunity to avenge last season’s loss and quiet the noise about early season adjustments and roster changes affecting their chances at finishing top of the league again.
Unfortunately, when Tayvon Gray headed home Augustin Ojeda’s cross in the ninth minute of stoppage time, stunning the Union crowd once again, the Union were reminded of the differences between their MLS campaign and their Concacaf opening against rumble strip adversary Defense Force FC.
The Union, reigning Supporters’ Shield winners, fell to 0-2. Last season, the Union suffered their first home loss in mid-March and also fell 1-0 to NYCFC in early April at Citi Field. After that, they ran through their schedule, picking up points with regularity.
The game opened with shades of last year’s playoff game where the Union struggled to contain New York’s quick lateral passing and combination play through the lines, breaking down the Union front-four while also pinning the Union defenders back with extra attackers, leaving the midfielders to shift and cover the gaps against a dynamic NYCFC front five. Maxi Moralez, the former MLS Best XI, often pushed forward then retreated back into midfield, leaving Ojeda, Nico Fernandez, and Hannes Wolf open to find the ball at their feet out wide where they could run at outside backs Nathan Harriel and Frankie Westfield. New York’s constant shifting could have been too much for Westfield, who was recovering from a minor hamstring injury and exited midway through the second half clutching the back of his thigh.
Similar to D.C. a week ago, the Union went down early, which put them into a position to chase the game. New York scored the goal they deserved in the 36th minute after a well-executed break of the Union press. After a series of combinations, Ojeda received the ball out wide and attacked a spread out Union back line with Olewethu Makhanya jumping out to challenge him. He fed Fernandez streaking through two Union defenders into the box. Andre Blake pushed Fernandez’s shot across the goal, but it fell right to Wolf, who was left all alone in front. Wolf buried the ball into the top corner for a 1-0 lead.
Hannes Wolf finishes the rebound! New York City grabs the lead.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 1, 2026
📺 Apple TV: https://t.co/N3W7AiRNlm pic.twitter.com/QyGpWHTUg4
Down a goal, the Union needed a response. The first question the Union need to answer is who will replace the impact in the box created by Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre?
Last week, Baribo showed what he can do when he scored against the Union, and this week Ezekiel Alladoh wasn’t on the field due to a red card. Milan Iloski had another fine game and tested Matt Freese with shots from distance, but he’s not a typical between the sixes, on the penalty spot type of striker. Bruno Damiani caused some disturbances, but he has zero shots on target after two games.
Against New York, the Union came out more aggressive in the second half and played well enough to earn a result, but it wasn’t until Stas Korzeniowki stepped onto field that their scoring percentages improved. Fresh off a brace Thursday night, Korzeniowski entered the pitch and with his first touches, got into the box and forced a reaction leg save by Freese. With fifteen minutes to go, Korzeniowski skimmed a header off the post.
The Union breakthrough came with minutes remaining in the game when Korzeniowski took up a strong post position in the box, backing into defender Thiago Martins, and went down with a gentle breeze. Though the contact was minimal, it was enough for referee Chris Penso to point to the spot. Indiana Vassilev (6 goals in 2025) stepped up and buried his penalty down the middle with Freese diving to his left.
Vassilev levels the game up. #DOOP
— Backyard Pitches (@BackyardPitches) March 1, 2026
pic.twitter.com/xNpskZS0fV
“I just want to help the team,” Korzeniowski said after the game about his contribution. “That’s one of the best ways I can help. I found myself in a few good positions today and obviously wish they would have ended up in the goal, but I’m glad I’m picking out the moments and finding dangerous spots.”
With Damiani the only returning striker and Iloski used as a striker and as a wide ten, Koreniowski is not only adjusting to first team pace and action but also to his newer teammates.
“It’s really early in the season,” Korzeniowski said, “I’ve gotten a good mixture and taste of playing with Eze and Bruno. I was able to watch Bruno last year and learn from him and his style, and I think that’s only going to continue to develop and grow.”
After the Union gathered the momentum following Vassilev’s goal, the fourth official flashed ten minutes of extra time, which gave the Union an even bigger lift. But when Penso showed Makhanya a second yellow card, this time for dissent, the Union defender was sent off, taking the momentum gained over the second half with him.
For the second consecutive game, a referee sent off a Union player for dissent. Last week, Alladoh earned a red card for the same offense, a conduct not often seen as dismissible but an example of a league-wide crackdown of some kind.
“Obviously the team’s not happy,” Carnell said after the game. “A lot of it is self-inflicted the last two weeks. If you look at the two red cards in two games, and this is something when one guy is disconnected, or when one red card happens, we have a mountain. We’ve created a mountain for ourselves to climb.”
“We’re letting ourselves down at the end of the day due to red cards for dissent,” Vassilev said after the game. “It’s obviously not a trend we want to keep setting for ourselves.” As one of the leaders of the locker room, Vasillev said it’s up to the senior players to remind the newer and younger players to maintain their composure. “New rules have been implemented. Referees are more susceptible to words from players, or actions, whether they are directed at them or not at them.
The second question the Union need to answer is where are the transitional conversions?
The Union’s bread and butter is forcing turnovers in their opponent’s end and converting those opportunities into goals. Union coach Bradley Carnell has stated many times he aims for 60% of the Union goals to come from transitional moments. Against Defense Force, the Union press and counter worked early and often, creating a blizzard of scoring chances. Against D.C. and NYCFC, the Union failed to capitalize on those moments.
“If you look at all the chances we created in transition today, where we created all the moments we had, all the shots we took,” Carnell said, “it’s just more about the final pass, the final execution. I thought it was way better than it was in DC.”
Another area Carnell pointed out where his team could improve against New York was the way his team recovered after the initial break to re-establish their press again. “Maybe it’s more the transition-transition moment where they break a line or two and then it’s about big recovery runs. I don’t think they troubled us too much on the build outs on the goal kicks.”
Vasillev agreed that the Union forced enough opportunities but needed to do more. “I think we created enough turnovers today,” he said. “We just need to be better with the turnovers. I’ll be the first to put my hand up.”
Vassilev, who joined the Union last season after playing with Carnell in St. Louis, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in Carnell’s system, and he’ll continue to carry that leadership role as newer players adjust to the demands of the Union’s constant press and counter-press. But with the Union falling behind and playing catch up again, he recognized the value of scoring first and maintaining the “razor’s edge” that Carnell references when describing how his team should play.
“If we’re a little bit cleaner in the first twenty minutes, and we score, and we’re up 1-0, we go into the half one-zero with momentum. Trying to keep the momentum is such a big part of this game, and we haven’t done too good a job of it so far.”
The Union have a week of training before hosting San Jose Saturday night at 7:30. Next week, they’ll begin their Round of 16 matchup with Club América in the Concacaf Champions Cup, hosting the first leg at Subaru Park.
