Union Suffers Third Straight Loss as Offensive Struggles Continue at Subaru Park

The Philadelphia Union fell 1-0 to San Jose Earthquakes at Subaru Park on Saturday night, extending their losing streak to three games and leaving fans booing at the final whistle, according to reports from the match.

The loss marked the third consecutive game in which the Union failed to score from open play and their second straight home defeat after posting a 12-1-4 record at Subaru Park in Chester last season during league play, according to team records.

Union manager Bradley Carnell defended his team’s performance despite the result, calling it their best showing of the three losses.

“I thought the boys did an excellent job, bar the goal that we conceded,” Carnell said after the match. “We came out flying. We were very dominating in the first half. We had a massive chance in the second half, just to start off the second half, and unfortunately, couldn’t get over the line.”

However, the Union’s offensive statistics told a different story. The team managed just one goal across three MLS matches this season - a penalty kick from Indiana Vassilev in last week’s 2-1 loss to New York City FC, according to league records.

Saturday’s “very dominating” first half didn’t produce a shot attempt until the 33rd minute, with the first shot on target coming in the 45th minute via Vassilev. The Union finished the half with five shot attempts compared to San Jose’s four.

The decisive goal came from another defensive breakdown at left back, continuing a troubling pattern for the Union. San Jose substitute Timo Werner found Ousseni Bouda with a pass that caught Union defender Giovanny Sequera ball-watching. Bouda drifted away from Sequera and scored past goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Sequera became the third different left back to be victimized for a goal in the Union’s three losses. Finn Sundstrom was beaten in the season opener against D.C. United, while Ben Bender was outjumped by Tayvon Gray for the stoppage-time winner against NYCFC last week.

Carnell acknowledged the left back issues but pointed to a potential solution in Philippe Ndinga, whose signing was announced February 27 and finalized Friday.

“We have solutions. He arrived on Thursday, and Philippe is going to get up to speed, and hopefully that’s one of the solutions,” Carnell said.

The Union generated 13 shots with three on target against San Jose, according to match statistics. San Jose goalkeeper Daniel made three saves, including stops on Vassilev in the 45th and 85th minutes and a diving header from Nathan Harriel in the 46th minute. The Union won the expected goals battle 1.08-0.83.

New acquisition Agustin Anello started alongside Bruno Damiani up front but managed just three touches in the box with no shot attempts before being substituted at halftime. Ezekiel Alladoh, returning from a red-card suspension, recorded only two touches in the penalty area during the second half and remains without a shot attempt in 104 MLS minutes this season.

Milan Iloski, expected to serve as the Union’s offensive catalyst, had just one touch in the penalty area over 74 minutes of play.

“There’s not only one reason why we’re struggling in scoring,” Damiani said. “Today in the first half, I think we really deserve a goal, and it’s just about details that we need to improve. Then in the second half, when they score, we just got so predictable that we didn’t have any chances.”

The Union will need to address their scoring woes quickly as they seek to avoid their worst start to an MLS season in recent memory.