The Philadelphia Union are set to conclude their two-game road trip and busy April schedule this weekend with a Saturday night matchup against Columbus Crew at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. The match begins at 7:30pm – tune in for coverage on Apple TV.
The Boys in Blue traveled straight from Ontario to Ohio for the occasion, taking a point from their competitive 3-3 midweek match against a Toronto side still unbeaten on their home pitch.Â
Milan Iloski opened scoring in first half stoppage time and Danley Jean Jacques adding another early in the second half for a 2-0 lead, but a 10-minute rally from Toronto tied the match by the 64th minute. Homegrown Nathan Harriel’s heroics on both ends of the field were a highlight for the Union, but even with an 89th minute header goal to reclaim the lead, the match still ended level by way of a goalie goal from Luka Gavran at the death.
With Wednesday's draw, Philly has now taken points in their last three matches for a total of 5, and while the team still has ground to make up after a challenging start to the season, the match ahead brings about an oppportunity to extend their point streak gainst an inconcisent Columbus side currently sitting at ninth in the Eastern Conference standings with two wins, four losses, and three draws.
Saturday’s hosts went winless in their first five matches of the year – a lackluster start for Henrik Rydström at the helm after replacing Head Coach Wilfried Nancy who departed the club to pursue what became a brief opportunity to coach Celtic FC. His group has had a swing of momentum as of late, however, dropping just one of their four MLS matches in April so far.Â
Most recently, they secured a 2-1 cross-conference win against LA Galaxy with goals from Diego Rossi and former Union midfielder Daniel Gazdag, marking the Hunagrian's first this year. Gabriel Pec got one back for the visitors from the West Coast in the 86th minute, but Columbus ultimately claimed all three points, boosting their total to 9 tied with D.C. United and FC Cincinnati.Â
The team trained at Columbus Crew's facility twice since arriving in Ohio, on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon, preparing for an important match on the road before returning home for Star Wars Night at Subaru Park against Nashville SC on May 2nd.
