Philadelphia Union earned a hard-fought point at Subaru Park on Saturday afternoon, battling Charlotte FC to a 2-2 draw in an action-packed Eastern Conference matchup.
Philadelphia opened the scoring midway through the first half after Charlotte was whistled for a handball inside the box. Milan Iloski stepped to the penalty spot and calmly converted in the 24th minute, giving the Boys in Blue a 1-0 advantage and sending them into halftime in front at Subaru Park.
The match shifted quickly after the restart as Charlotte found a pair of second-half goals to erase the deficit and take a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia, looking to protect both its eight-match winning streak and club-record unbeaten run, responded by pushing numbers forward in search of an equalizer.
That pressure paid off in the 73rd minute when Bruno Damiani found the back of the net to pull the Union level. The goal continued a strong stretch for the forward, who entered Saturday coming off a two-goal performance that powered Philadelphia’s 3-1 comeback victory over Chicago just three days earlier.
With the match tied, the Union continued to push for a winner in the closing stages but ultimately settled for a point against Charlotte. The draw brought Philadelphia’s eight-match MLS winning streak to an end, one victory shy of matching the league’s single-season record, but extended the club-record unbeaten run to 15 consecutive matches.
Philadelphia Union wraps up their October home slate next weekend hosting the New England Revolution on Saturday, October 24th. Kick off from Subaru Park is set for 7:30PM ET with tickets for the match available by clicking here.
How The Match Unfolded
LINEUP NOTES
Interim Head Coach Ryan Richter sent out a different XI than the one that pulled off a midweek win on the road against Chicago, adding two players back into the starting group for Saturday's home match against Charlotte.
Andre Blake kept his post between the posts, protected by a backline featuring Nathan Harriel and Neil Pierre paired at centerback, plus Kai Wagner and Frankie Westfield on the flanks.Â
Danley Jean Jacques returned to the midfield after missing Wednesday's win with a foot injury, lining up as usual alongside Jovan Lukic.Â
Indiana Vassilev was also back in the starting group, rounding out the midfield with Cavan Sullivan.
Bruno Damiani and Milan Iloski, who have combined for 29 of the team's 59 goals so far this season, were paired up top.
On the bench, Andrew Rick was Blake's backup, sitting with Japhet Sery Larsen, Ale Bedoya, Ben Bender, Jeremy Rafanello, Quinn Sullivan, Ezekiel Alladoh, Agustin Anello, and Malik Jakupovic.Â
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2', Free kicks | The match was a physical from the opening whistlr, with Philadelphia Union earning a pair of free kicks from fouls in the first two minutes of play.Â
6', Danley shot | After missing Wednesday's win against Chicago on the road, Danley was back in the lineup and active early, taking the first shot of the day from central position outside of the box, forcing a save from Charlotte's Kristijan Kahlina. His attempt earned the team a corner opportunity, but no Union players were able to get a foot on a promising pass through the box on the ground.
8', Sullivan shot | Cavan Sullivan took a shot from the right, but his attempt sailed into the Supporters' Section.Â
15', Sullivan shots | The 17-year-old phenom took another pair of chances, with the first from outside the box missing right, then the second blocked from close range by Henry Kessler.
19', Union corner | Vassilev chested and picked his shot in attempt to finish a corner, but was blocked by Djibril Diani.
19', Yellow card | Allan Saint-Maximin was shown a yellow card for a foul from Frankie Westfield.Â
20', Wagner shot | After a string of passes around the box, Wagner attempted to boot one toward Kahlina, but was blocked by Rodolfo Aloko, who was given a foul for a handball just outside of the box.Â
20', Wagner shot | Wagner and Iloski lined up for the free kick -- the latter took the shot, but was blocked. Damiani got one off as well, but another handball from Pep Biel gave Philly a shot from the spot.Â
24', Union goal! | Despite a sideline exchange between Kahlina and Charlotte's goalie coach, Iloski perfectly placed his penalty past the Croatian keeper to the bottom left corner, scoring his 19th of the season for a 1-0 Union lead.
35', Charlotte chance | Charlotte's offense was patient to pick an opportunity, with Biel setting up Ashley Westwood to run onto a shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner, but Blake dove to make the stop.Â
40', Charlotte free kick | Saint-Maximin found shot off a free kick after a foul by Lukic earned Charlotte the opportunity, but the Serbian defensive midfielder blocked the ensuing effort.Â
44', Charlotte yellow | Morrison Agyemang was shown a yellow for a foul on Bruno Damiani near the left sideline.Â
45'+1, Charlotte yellow | David Schnegg was shown a yellow card for a foul on Frankie Westfield, giving Philly another free kick that becaer a corner.
45+2, Iloski corner | Iloski took the corner from the left, but the service went out of play.
Halftime |Â Philadelphia Union entered halftime up 1-0.Â
48', Charlotte scores |Â The visitors got one back in the 48th minute by way of a goal from Rodolfo Aloko assisted by Idan Toklomati.Â
53', Post | Sullivan found Iloski foot, diverting the ball straight up out of Kahlina's reach but the chance hit the cross bar.
55', Damiani shot | Damiani tried to get one back for Philly but missed left.Â
56', Union sub | Richter made a sub just 10 minutes into the second half, replacing Vassilev with Quinn Sullivan.
60', Westfield shot | A forward pass from the youngest Sullivan to the oldest spurred a promising offensive action finishing with a Westfield shot from the right side of the box, but it was saved by Kahlina.
62', Charlotte goal | Toklomati scored a header goal assisted Schnegg to claim the first lead of the day for the visitors.
67', Sullivan offside |Â C. Sullivan responded with a goal but was caught offside. During the action, Damiani was taken down, requiring lengthy medical attention from the team's training staff on the pitch.Â
69', Damiani equalizer! | Danley found Damiani for an equalizer from the centert of the box to make it 2-2! With the goal, Bruno scored his 12th of the season and ninth in the last seven matches.
76', Westfield block | A crucial block by Westfield to halt an shot from the left side from Adolfo energized the crowd as the team looked for the game-winner at home.
82', Union sub | The Union make a change with less than 10 minutes left sending in homegrown Malik Jakupovic in place of the goal-scoring Damiani.
83', Charlotte subs | The visitors answered with a trio of changes of their own with Allan Saint-Maximin, Djibril Daini and David Schnegg being replaced by Liel Abada, Luca de la Torre and Harry Toffolo.
89', Charlotte off the post | The game began to open up with end to end chances with a win seeing each side's playoff berth chances increase. Just before the fourth official raised the board Henry Kessler had his effort ring off the post.
90+', Stoppage time | Twelve minutes were added to the battle between Philly and Charlotte with the Boys in Blue nearly grabbing the lead off a Cavan Sullivan flick that was saved by Kahlina.
90+4', Sullivan saved | Philly kept pushing to tie the league's win streak record with Quinn Sullivan ripping a shot from close range that was pushed away by the visiting shot stopper.
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