Union Beat Montréal 2-0, Extend Unbeaten Streak to 8 Games

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Photo courtesy of Carl Gulbish

The Philadelphia Union are the hottest team in MLS.

The Union are 6-0-2 since the return from the World Cup break under the leadership of interim head coach Ryan Richter. At the confines of Subaru Park, the Boys in Blue are also 4-0-1 in that time span, a drastic improvement from the 0-3-3 home record to start the 2026 season.

Saturday night, the Union didn’t play their best against a struggling CF Montréal side, but second-half goals from Danley Jean Jacques and Cavan Sullivan proved to be enough to keep the team moving in the right direction. Amid the latest surge, the Union can now say the p word with confidence—playoffs. Currently 8th in the Eastern Conference standings with 27 points, the Union find themselves firmly locked into the playoff race, something that appeared unimaginable months ago when they hovered at the bottom for the most of the early part of the season.

Despite the Union’s focus on quick starts at home, the visitors took their first chance and found the back of the net two minutes into the game. Montréal’s surprising new DP signing Alexis Sanchez picked out Hennadii  Synchuk at the far post, but after thr winger’s attempted scissors kick had been blocked in front, Fabian Herbers found Prince Owusu in front of goal on the follow-up, and his shot deflected past Andre Blake. However, VAR ruled Herbers offside on the buildup.

The goal served as a wake up call for the hosts, and minutes later the Union began to create more opportunities through Sullivan and Frankie Westfield down the right side. Milan Iloski missed a Westfield cross high then Sullivan almost hit Bruno Damiani in front of the goal shortly after. The Union’s best chance off the half came in the 13th minute off a lovely combination from Indiana Vassilev to Sullivan, who got in behind the defense through the left channel and fired an angled shot on target. Montréal keeper Sébastian Breza spilled the shot but managed to interfere with Damiani on the rebound just enough to force the striker’s poke wide.

Midway through the half, former Union Homegrown Brandan Craig entered the game for Montreal after central defender Jalen Neal left through injury. The Philly native has 11 league appearances this season and started and played all ninety minutes in Montréal’s 1-1 draw with Vancouver in the Canadian Championship First Leg last week.

The Union had two really good chances to get on the board late in the half. In the 40th minute, a crafty set-piece from just outside the box started with Iloski rolling a pass to Damiani’s feet on the inside of the Montreal wall. Kai Wagner ran off the initial ball and had a clean strike on Damiani’s layoff, but he pulled it just wide of the post. Then, late in first-half stoppage time, Westfield sent a cross to Damiani at the spot, but the striker flubbed his shot wide.

The Union jumped on the visitors after the break, pounding Breza from all sides and angles. Wagner turned a recycled corner into a chance when he blasted a half-volley from the end line, forcing Breza to cover his near post. Two minutes later, Iloski  sent a diving header on target off a deflected Sullivan cross, but Breza once again made a reaction save.

The first Union goal came in the 57th minute through another misdirected set piece and a lot of grit. Wagner sent a deep cross from right to left, and Harriel’s header across the box bounced through traffic and fell to Danley at the back post. After the Union midfielder’s first attempted volley had been blocked, he hit the second chance past Breza to give the Union a 1-0 lead. The goal was Danley’s fourth of the season.

Seven minutes later, Montréal had a generous opportunity to pull a goal back when referee Chris Penso pointed the spot following an entanglement between Neil Pierre and Synchuk just inside the penalty area. Though Pierre caught Synchuk’s ankle, a called labeled “soft” by Richter after the game, Owusu stepped up to face Blake with a chance to draw level. With 13 goals in MLS, Owusu’s stutter-step penalty backfired, and as Blake did well to hold his ground and force a late decision, Owusu’s penalty sputtered down the middle, allowing the three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year to make an easy save.

“I was very happy I was able to keep my team in the game,” Blake said after the game about the save. “He’s a really good penalty taker, and I just decided on this one that I’m going to wait for him to kick it before I move, and he scores you score. Thankfully, I waited and today was the day he decided to down the middle.”

Owusu nearly had his retribution minutes later, but Blake denied him again on the doorstep from a redirected cross, and as Union fans have witnessed countless times before, a Blake save changed the momentum of the game and eventually led to another Union goal. Just after the second Blake stop, Lukic played a ball through midfield to Danley, who dummied the ball for a Damiani through ball, putting Iloki into goal with only Breza to beat. Iloski took his dribble wide around Breza, and the Montréal keeper made a strong diving stop to knock the ball away. But Sullivan arrived late and sent a first-time strike into the far corner that just beat Craig on the goal line to extend the Union lead to 2-0.

“I was in the box, and that’s where things happen,” Sullivan said after the game, “so I followed it up. If I hit it any lower I think my boy Brandon would have cleared it out.”

The Sullivans and Craigs have been household names throughout the Union academy in recent years, carpooling to trainings every day.

Sullivan, the 16 year-old phenom, now has goals in three-straight games and eight goal contributions (4g,4a) over the last seven games, by far his biggest contributions since joining the senior team. And his relationship with Westfield has certainly turned the right side of the Union attack into a juggernaut during the stretch of success.

“Honestly, I think both of us just go out there and play free,” Westfield said about his connection with Sullivan on the field. “We’re going out there every game with full confidence.”

“He’s finishing off plays and getting himself into positions to score goals,” Richter said. “Not every one has to be like the goal at Red Bull when he makes an incredible play. It’s in the right place at the right time, and that’s what great attackers do.”

The Union controlled the game late, and substitute Quinn Sullivan created some of the Union’s best chances near the end, but Breza and Montréal held the two-goal advantage as their season slips away with only one win in nine since returning from the break.

“Sometimes, in nights like this, you have to have an ugly way of winning,” Richter said. “I like winning games, and that’s the thing that provides the mental boost is that we didn’t play a great game and we got the win. And if we keep going like this, that part takes care of itself.”

The Union continue to trend upward in the MLS standings and are now on pace with league leaders Nashville SC (6-1-2) for the most points (20) since the World Cup break. Nashville has a ten-point advantage over second place Miami in the East. The Union have a difficult matchup midweek when Pat Noonan’s FC Cincinnati comes to town. Cincinnati are 3-2-2 since July and sit 6th in the East on 31 points. Though they’ve only managed one road win this season, they’ve also earned five draws, and star striker Evander (13g, 11a) will certainly provide a litmus test for the Union central defense under Richter. Evander trails only Leo Messi (18g, 12a) in goal contributions in MLS this season.

The Union and Cincinnati will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast by Apple TV. 

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