Union Set Club Record 6-Consecutive Wins at Subaru Park
On Sunday night the Union welcomed 2,775 fans to Subaru Park as the team took on the Montreal Impact.
The Union ended up defeating the Montreal Impact, 2-1, in rainy and windy conditions in Chester on Sunday night.
Philadelphia remains undefeated at Subaru Park as they have won all six games while scoring 15 goals and conceding only three in that span. The goals were scored by Jamiro Monteiro and second-half substitute Sergio Santos.
The Sons of Ben’s presence certainly affected the outcome of the exciting match as fans were in the stands for the first time in 357 days.
The Boys in Blue earned some early half-chances in the game before Montreal started to possess the ball more and record some corners and shots.
Then in the 39′, Monteiro scored following a phenomenal through ball from Ilsinho on the right flank. Ilsinho slotted the pass between five Montreal defenders, and Monteiro promptly fired a one-time shot past the outreached arms of goalie Clément Diop.
This was Monteiro’s first goal of the 2020 season, and it could not have come at a better time.
Philadelphia headed into halftime with a 1-0 lead and some momentum following the goal just a few minutes before halftime. The Union made a halftime substitution as Santos entered the match for Warren Creavalle. Brenden Aaronson then served as the center attacking mid, Monteiro moved down to center defensive mid next to Alejandro Bedoya, and Santos played on the left flank.
Montreal came out firing on all cylinders at the start of the second half, as Victor Wanyama ripped off a shot in the box in the 47′. Goalie Andre Blake was up for the test as he made an incredible fingertip save to push it over the bar and concede a corner.
The Union defended the corner well and Monteiro was able to spring Aaronson up the wing with a sublime pass. Aaronson dribbled on the wing before crafting a fantastic through ball to Ilsinho, who then played it across to Santos for the easy tap-in finish in the 49′. This perfectly executed counter-attack went on to be the game-winning goal as the Brazilian connection between Ilsinho and Santos shone through.
In the postgame presser, coach Jim Curtin credited Ilsinho for his two assists on the night as the Brazilian earned his second start of the year and went 71 minutes in the winning effort.
“Ilsinho gives us that quality, on the goals that we scored tonight. He really came up big tonight and set up 2 big goals for us,” said Curtin.
The game started to get a little chippy as Samuel Piette received a yellow card in the 55′, Olivier Mbaizo was given a yellow card in the 58′, and Wanyama received a yellow for a dangerous foul in the 59′. The other yellow cards were given to Jorge Corrales in the 71′, Bedoya in the 76′ and Matt Real in the 90+3′.
This was the Impact’s biggest chance to tie the game, but they were unable to convert and the Union held on for the crucial win.
“First and foremost, a big 3 points. It’s about grinding out results, and I think we did that,” Curtin said.
In the winning effort, Ilsinho became the second player in club history to notch 20 goals and 20 assists, as he joined Sebastian Le Toux in that category. With Santos’ goal, he has now scored four goals and added one assist in 15 games played this season. Jack Elliott started for the first time since September 2nd while making his 85th career start, Mbaizo made his 10th straight start at outside back, and defender Mark McKenzie made his 40th career start for the Union.
All in all, this was a confidence-boosting win for the U as they remained in second place in the Eastern Conference with 31 points.
Curtin made sure to thank the fans who attended the match by stating, “They made a difference tonight. I thought the fans gave a boost to the players, it was awesome having the fans back.”
The Union will be back in action on Wednesday, October 14th when they will travel to Audi Field to face D.C. United at 8:00 p.m. ET kickoff on PHL17.
Featured Image: Wes Shepherd/Philadelphia Sports Nation
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