Philadelphia Union played their fifth and final friendly of training camp on Tuesday evening, facing Major League Soccer competition for the first time this year with a tune-up against CF Montreal. While the match finished 4-2 in favor of Philly's opponent, it was a productive night all around. 17 Union players saw the pitch, five of which competed for a full 90 for the first time this year, recent additions earned more meaningful minutes with their new teammates, and the group as a whole took another step forward in their progression toward the 2026 season.
"I take away a really good first half performance. I think you could see a lot of things we've been working on in preseason come off, and when we do it right, it looks really good and really dangerous," Head Coach Bradley Carnell said after the match.
"It's early, it's preseason, and there's a lot of rust in both teams. When there's a couple of chippy tackles, you just lose structure of the game, then it becomes a bit of a free for all. Obviously not happy with the result, but I almost think that's secondary. There's a lot of other little things, little things that we can control and should control, and obviously we'll learn from that and grow from that."
How it happened
The Clearwater sun set as the match kicked off at Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex for the preseason finale. This time around, Carnell sent out a strong first squad featuring a mix of frequent Union starters and new additions to make up the XI.
Andre Blake played the full match between the posts, first protected by a backline featuring Japhet Sery Larsen and Olwethu Makhanya paired at centerback, plus Frankie Westfield and Nate Harriel on the flanks. Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukic, Ale Bedoya, Milan Iloski, Ezekiel Alladoh and the team’s newest addition, Agustin Anello, made up the rest of the starters, and they put their team ahead 2-0 in the first 38 minutes.
Iloski scored the first of the night in the 28th, scoring a top bins banger off a short pass from Westfield at the top of the box. 10 minutes later, the team's number 10 added another, this time off a build up from Alladoh to Anello, who crossed it to Iloski for the finish.
The match marked Anello's first friendly appearance in Blue and Gold, earning a spot in the starting lineup just hours after the club announced his signing.
"It was great to get Augie some minutes and just see what he can bring. He showed a couple of good touches, and he's really smart in and around the opponent box. His dribbling capabilities, his crossing capabilities. Expecting for him to flourish and move on in a good way, and hopefully get up to speed very quickly in terms of minutes and progressions," Carnell said.
Montreal got one back before halftime, making the match 2-1 at the end of 45. The opponents equalized then pulled ahead in the second half, and while they kept their lead through the final whistle, it was still an important stretch for the Union as Cavan Sullivan, Ben Bender, Geiner Martinez, Sal Olivas, Stas Korzeniowski, and Rafael Uzcategui each subbed on for valuable minutes on the pitch.
While the final result isn't what Carnell hoped for in his team's chippy final outing before their Concacaf Champions Cup opener, he was still quick to identify the positives he saw from his group.
"When we do things really well within our structure and the philosophy and brave within the principles, we get rewarded so many times and so much," Carnell said.
"Ezekiel has a really good moment with his hold up play and brings others into the into the game, like we did on the goal. Then he had a 1v1 breakaway. So, on another day you could be three or four up in the first half. I thought was a real dominant display, and again, listen, we've got a young group, and we're still figuring a couple of things out. But, I'm excited to be seeing what's ahead for them."
