Following their first win last weekend, after an abysmal start to the 2026 season, Bradley Carnell and the Philadelphia Union secured their first clean sheet of the year on Saturday night but couldn’t put one past DC United to collect all 3 points, despite outshooting their opponent 17-6 at home.
Cavan Sullivan creating chances for the Union vs DC United
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
Carnell went with a strong lineup at home with a backline of Nate Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, Japhet Sery Larsen, and Frankie Westfield. Jovan Lukic and Jesús Bueno took charge of the midfield in the double pivot, with Danley Jean-Jacques still making his way back from injury.
Milan Iloski and Indiana Vassilev acted as the two attacking midfielders, while Bruno Damiani and Ezekiel Alladoh, who registered his first goal contribution against Montreal last week, led the charge up front and looked to power the Union to their first win at home of the campaign.
Philadelphia Union's starting XI preparing to play DC United.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
Union’s lack of goal scoring wasn’t from a lack of chances in front of the net. Jesús Bueno nearly opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he let a right-footed blast from outside the penalty area fly, beating everyone but the post to the left of DC goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
In the 25th minute, Jesús Bueno’s defensive pressure forced DC into a turnover in their own end, which ended with Milan Iloski chesting down a ball and hitting a right-foot volley from 25 yards out, but Sean Johnson dove to his right and palmed the ball away to safety to keep the game scoreless.
In the 40th minute, it was Jesús Bueno once again asking questions of DC’s backline, this time hitting a right-footed volley from a cross to the back post by Bruno Damiani - but his attempt was deflected away by a sliding block from Nikola Markovic.
In the 42nd minute, Union got what was probably their best chance of the first half when Indiana Vassilev entered the box with an overlapping pass and found Bruno Damiani in front of the goal. Damiani sent the ball on net with his first touch, but Sean Johnson was once again there to make the save. The ball would bounce around the box and eventually make its way back to Damiani, but his 2nd attempt struck the outside netting of the goal.
Indiana Vassilev plays the ball forward as his coach, Bradley Carnell, watches on.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
It was the Union forcing the issues and looking for the go-ahead goal in the 2nd half in front of a home crowd desperate to leave Subaru Park with 3 points for the first time this season, but the Blue and Gold just lacked the clinical touch needed on the night to do so.
In the 51st minute, Milan Iloski found himself inside the penalty area with the ball at his feet just outside the six-yard box, but his attempt to beat Johnson was blocked away by a sliding Nikola Markovic, who made a similar play on Jesús Bueno in the opening half.
In the 53rd minute, Nate Harriel settled down a poor clearance attempt inside DC’s penalty area, but his right-footed blast towards the net was deflected and skidded off the top of the netting behind Sean Johnson.
In the 76th minute, Milan Iloski put Sean Johnson to the test with a shot from outside the box, but the DC keeper was again ready to parry the attempt away with a one-handed save.
In the 82nd minute, it was Bruno Damiani who got the last chance to break the deadlock and send Union fans home happy when a deflected cross into the box fell perfectly in his path inside the penalty area. With his back turned to the goal, Damiani waited for the ball to come down, turned his hips, and unleashed a twisting volley towards the net, but his attempt sailed over the net and into a sea of frustrated Union fans.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union
When asked what went wrong in front of the net that led to Union failing to score on Saturday night, Bradley Carnell felt his team did enough work to put themselves in position to find the breakthrough goal, but things just didn’t go their way on the night.
“The ball didn’t cross the line, it’s as simple as that…I thought we had excellent movement, I thought we had 2-vs-1’s on the sides, I thought we created chaos in the box, we created 2nd phases, I thought we controlled 2nd phases. If one goes over the line, I think the game unfolds in a different way, [DC United] were hanging on for dear lives and they managed to get out of here with a point.”
The Blue and Gold failed to score at home on Saturday and, as such, failed to lock down 3 points in the standings against an Eastern Conference opponent. But they did manage to achieve their first clean sheet of the season, and the 90th of Andre Blake’s career - something Bradley Carnell hopes is a sign of things to come.
“First clean sheet of the year, really happy about that. I thought we controlled a lot of the game, kept the game in the opponent's half. it’s tough when only one team comes to play, their M.O is a little bit of a long ball battle which we kind of expected and knew, but when we could combine and take charge of the game I thought we create numerous opportunities and we’re unfortunate not to score and take the 3 points, but we’re happy for [Andre Blake] with his 90th career clean sheet, hopefully it’s the start of many in a run of games and a tough schedule that we have coming up on the road”
With the Union playing in Toronto on Wednesday and then Columbus on the weekend, Bradley Carnell is hoping the clean sheet against DC and the way in which they managed to achieve it is something the squad can use to build confidence moving forward, so they can start fighting their way back up the Eastern Conference table.
“I think it’s big, but I think the control we had in getting the clean sheet is more impressive. We embrace the clean sheet and if we just held on by the skin of our teeth the feeling would be different, but the guys are confident, they’re feeling they are in a way better spot, and to get the clean sheet the way the game unfolded, the way they controlled the spaces defensively, a clean sheet was the logical solution and the outcome…just unfortunate we couldn’t score.”
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