It speaks volumes about the Philadelphia Union ethos that Bradley Carnell looked positively delighted as he described the pain, discomfort and dirty work his team endured in the toughest moments of their clutch 1-0 road win over FC Cincinnati.
“I saw our boys suffer – and [they] enjoyed the suffer,” said Philly’s head coach after the result that clinched his side for the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs and keeps them tops in the Supporters’ Shield table heading into the September international window.
“They really took it personal, and did it with a smile on their face – almost emotionless.”
Short-handed win
A 49th-minute header from Bruno Damiani had placed the DOOP squad on course for a crucial W against one of their closest pursuers in the Shield race.
A second yellow card to center back Olwethu Makhanya with more than half an hour still to play complicated matters significantly, however, pushing the visitors between a rock and a hard place in a vibrant, playoff-level atmosphere at TQL Stadium – and with a teenager in goal, no less: homegrown Andrew Rick, deputizing for the injured Andre Blake.
Philly’s 10 men accepted the assignment with relish, maintaining their organization under duress and elevating their usual tigerish intensity to close down space and wade into challenges with focused ferocity.
“All my teammates work hard – I was dead at 75 minutes, but the guys fight for 20 more minutes,” said Damiani, who has now scored six goals across all competitions since arriving last winter as the Union’s club-record transfer buy. “That's the reason why we won, because we keep the clean sheet. I'm obviously really happy to score. But this type of game, the only thing important is to win.
“These kind of games show to ourselves most of all what are we made of, and what do we want this year.”
Slick Rick
Rick had already made a difference with two massive parries early in the match to keep things scoreless, and finished the night with five saves. Afterwards, he revealed the players held a heart-to-heart meeting after their recent road loss to the New York Red Bulls in which they recommitted to their 2025 trophy ambitions – “everyone in that locker room agrees that we want to win stuff this year,” he said – and the blue-collar mentality that powers them.
“I give huge credit to them,” the 19-year-old said of his teammates as they vocally celebrated their triumph in Cincy. “We adapted really well when we went down a man … They were less dangerous when we had the red card. We were so compact, and we were still all on the same page and defending as one unit, that it frustrated them.”
For Carnell, it’s a sign of soaring collective belief as Rick comes into his own with the talismanic veteran Blake sidelined – and at the perfect moment for a team which has more than once fallen just short of signature victories against elite opposition like this.
“You can just see the confidence growing within the group, knowing that Rick’s got their back,” said the South African. “Then all of a sudden, this is just now a bit of momentum building and taking our chances at the key times.
“I don't think this team needs to prove that they're a good team anymore. I think we can see that. And now we just have to keep pushing ourselves, motivating ourselves, and finish off strong.”
Cincy rough patch
Cincy were one of the league’s most aggressive shoppers in the just-closed summer transfer window and used many of their new attacking acquisitions here, starting Brenner, Ender Echenique and Dominik Marczuk before bringing Ayoub Jabbari off the bench as they chased the game.
“They [had], you could argue, six attacking players on the field for Cincinnati,” said Carnell, “and to shift and to step and to block the shots and the passing lanes – those guys had to really go out of their comfort zones tonight.”
FCC struggled to create real danger even with a numerical advantage and have now been shut out for three home games in a row, all of them frustrating 1-0 losses.
"Results, performances are below our standard,” said head coach Pat Noonan. “I know that disappointment’s there with these players, with the fans, and that’s the way it should be. We’re not getting it done.”
Eyes on the prize
Few expected the Union to be in this position after missing out on the postseason last year and replacing longtime boss Jim Curtin with Carnell in response. Damiani said the main focus to date has been a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference to assure themselves of home-field advantage in at least one round of the playoffs.
But now that the regular-season title is within their grasp, they aim to seize it, and kick on for a rare Shield-MLS Cup double to boot.
“I think the club’s goal is to be in the first four positions, but I think we are ready to win the Supporters’ Shield, and the feeling is to win that and to be the MLS champions,” said the Uruguayan, who noted the Philly culture of intensity and effort is reminiscent of what he lived back home and has helped him feel “comfortable” in his new surroundings.
“Every game we win, you go into the locker room, you understand how important is the group, and how tight we are all together. That's also the reason why we run that much and we fight for each other, and that's the key. There's no clue, no secret, about our year. It's just to be focused, and to be working very hard.”
Additional reporting contributed by Tyler Snipes.
