Philadelphia Union vs. D.C. United: Preview, time, and how to watch
D.C. United heads back out on the road to face Philadelphia Union in the only MLS fixture of the day. Both clubs are on the hunt for a playoff spot, with the Union coming in at the 10 spot on the table and the Black-and-Red in 12th.
Philadelphia is ramping up its efforts. On Wednesday, the Union trounced New York City FC on the road, dominating the match 5-1. The same NYCFC drew with D.C. United, 1-1, back on September 14th at Audi Field.
It’s hard to believe we’re already at Match Day 34. The pressure on the Black-and-Red to produce results and clinch a playoff spot has never been higher. Middling results will not cut it. We’ve seen how hungry the team and head coach Troy Lesesne are. The only question tonight is, are they hungrier than Jim Curtin’s Union?
Hear everything head coach Troy Lesesne had to say at the pre-game press conference here.
Let us know your thoughts about tonight’s match in the comments below and be sure to join us live here during the game to chat with your fellow supporters.
Key Player: Christian Benteke
Christian Benteke, the Golden Boot leader, is showing no signs of slowing down this season. The striker has been key to D.C. United’s success and keeping hopes of a Black-and-Red playoff spot alive. He’s recorded five goals in his past five matches, making him one for Philly to watch.
Watch Out For: Dániel Gazdag
Gazdag has been producing for the Union this season and contributed to the victory over NYCFC midweek. The Hungarian’s top performances have established him as the Union’s all-time leading goal scorer.
Challenges: Both teams tonight are vying for a playoff spot and we can expect a fierce matchup.
Previously: Back in May, D.C. and Philadelphia drew, 2-2, at Audi Field.
Philadelphia Union Availability:
Out: Isaiah LeFlore (knee)
Questionable: Andre Blake (leg), Danley Jean Jacques (ankle)
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Conner Antley (knee), Jackson Hopkins (ankle), David Schnegg (leg)
Questionable: Matai Akinmboni (ankle), Russell Canouse (ankle)
Location: Subaru Park, Chester, PA
Kickoff time: 6:15 pm ET
Referee: Filip Dujic
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Also can be viewed tonight on Fox Sports One, pre-match coverage starts at 6:00.
Oh, sick
Turns out, more widely showing this match was not, in fact, “sick”
6-pointer.
I can’t remember the various MLS tiebreakers. With a win we are essentially tied w 8th place Toronto. A loss drops us down essentially into a tie w 13th place Nashville.
8th place hosts 9th place in play-in game to advance to a quarterfinal series against 1st place team (probably that pink team from the Southern Swamp).
Aaaand, there’s never a bad time to avenge a not too distant 7-0 embarassing loss.
17 minutes in, we’re closer to replicating, not avenging
Spot on. But down 2-0 already its gonna take a lot of character to salvage anything from this one. Team is too poor defensively and the left-side in particular is a liability every week.
Well, this blows
Lesesne did not set this team up right. Nonsensical formation, weird lineup choices, and they clearly weren’t ready for a strong start.
Fun fact- did you know DC has 3 DPs on the field?
I know, surprising
Did you know that Philly is pretty bad at home this year?
Sort of in the same way that Dallas only has one road win all season.
Oh, and DC is the team with a full week of rest while Philly had a midweek game.
There are a couple functioning players in this lineup, but nothing cohesive about the collective. The collective has arguably been our only saving grace this season. This is ghastly
3-0.
I guess I’ll leave it on the screen, but truly, why watch?
This game feels like Lesesne wants to burn his career down, or maybe just the club’s morale
I know the team has shied away from “Tradition,” but getting our asses absolutely handed to us, particularly in Chester, is a beloved tradition that has spanned many coaching eras.
But Philly were rampant before, this is just complete capitulation by our team. I don’t see a discernible game plan, and to my eye, it looks closer to sabotage than foresight
In fairness, even when Philly has been bad, no matter what dc looked like that given year, they still fall apart in Chester.
If the goal was like five feet higher, we’d be doing pretty well!
I was still watching to see if Klich might give a pass that leads to a goal. Glad I was able to see it!
Gazdag just needs two goals to catch Benteke. He could easily get those tonight.
Gazdag is subbed out, but now we get the opportunity to see 14 year old Cavan Sullivan score on us.
Honestly, a welcome distraction. I get to root for America rather than this absolute disgrace
Cavan’s face really looks like Eric Wynalda.
My general feel
Remember how Boris Enow was wanting something along the lines of DP money?
He’s earned a plane ticket anywhere else
What’s his contract again?
I don’t have the heart to research that mistake
He’s here through 2027 with an option for 2028. Hopefully he starts to adjust.
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
Ooof
Didn’t watch tonight’s match, but I was less than impressed when Enow played against NYCFC. He makes miserable decisions with the ball. A turnover machine.
I’m thinking about Josh Cohen misplaying a ball against us in Leagues Cup, and thinking that perhaps the Israeli league is not necessarily where we should be looking to make a splash signing.
Lesesne undone by Curtin’s brilliant strategy to (checks notes) have defensive players near the center of the field
Can this game just end already?
This is definitely an “if you don’t finish your crud, you don’t get any crap for dessert” game
Rodriguez should have started, especially given how much they tried to build out the back tonight instead of playing direct through Benteke. Head-scratching coaching decisions all around. Also, Lesesne should be banned from playing with a back five 🙂
Enow probably should make way for Canouse, at least until he can show a bit more in the engine room too. Schnegg, I assume is injured, could really help that left side. Leave Santos for a impact sub at this point in his career.
Pretty much have to run the table from here out after this miserable result.
This game defies analysis, you can’t investigate a wet noodle
We shouldn’t be playing Santos in defense ever again.
There are those that will say, this is just what happens to us when we visit Philly. I say, this shouldn’t happen to any pro team anywhere without the influence of alcohol
I always like to remind myself that we could be Chicago Fire fans.
I wonder if this DC side will buck the trend this off season and make a big move during the winter transfer window. I’m sure there will be lots of minor shuffling, largely of players in the league, but I can’t honestly remember the last time the owners opened up their pocketbooks and spent anything of merit in the main (for MLS) off season window?
When it comes to the roster, if Garber had any feelings for this team, he’d adjust the rules to give us a one time player diarrhetic
Klich? Although I don’t think they paid a transfer for him. They gave up Ruan (who’s arguably had the better season) and a bunch of GAM to get Aaron Herrera. Transfer-wise, you have to note Edison Flores.
It’s not just a “big move” that DC United needs. The team’s roster generally stinks. None of our young guys can bring the quality of a Quinn Sullivan. We certainly don’t have a goalie at Blake’s level, though Bono is probably one of the stronger players on the roster, compared with the average MLS keeper. Between the midfield and the front line, we have one decent attacker (and one good wingback who can penetrate defenses). Top teams in MLS have 3, 4, or even 5 guys that can fill the net, plus several creators. And don’t get me started on the defense…
I just saw that the Galaxy became the second team ever to have three players with 10+ goals and 10+ assists, and the first team ever to have four players with 10+ goals.
Bringing in quality from the academy is a vital point, too. Our first two signings were Hamid and Najar, and after that… Donovan Pines, I guess? Chris Durkin? Not having an MLS Next PRO team is absolutely killing us right now. And we won’t have one next year, either, according to Lesesne. They’re targeting 2026, which is probably when MLS will decide to switch things up again, which other teams will deftly do while we’ve locked ourselves into a long-term deal with a now-useless Baltimore team.
We missed out on being the first team with four 10-goal scorers just barely in Rooney’s second season iirc. Rooney, Lucho, and Arriola all had 10 but Asad finished on 9.
Close. It was 2018, Rooney’s first season. He had 12 goals, Lucho and Darren Mattocks had 10, and Yamil Asad had 9. (Arriola had 7.)
I think that following Rooney’s arrival, Asad only scored twice, including the opening goal in Audi Field history. Mattocks also only one goal after Rooney’s arrival. They had been kind of carrying the team in the first half, and then the Lucharoo show took over.
Very good pull!
As far as next year’s roster, it’s kind of taking shape. New deals for Benteke, Ku-DiPietro, and Bartlett. Peltola, Pirani, Enow, Badji, Schnegg, and Antley all had multi-year deals. Bono will probably be back and Miller probably won’t (no idea about Crockford and Zamudio).
So, the team is okay, but not very exciting so far for next year. The players to watch are Klich, Rodriguez, Dajome, Santos, and Canouse. All of them (except Canouse, due to injury) have been varying degrees of decent. Bringing them back wouldn’t be outrageous. But they’re all on pretty high salaries. We’ll see how many of those players Ally Mackay says good-bye to, figuring he can get better bang for his buck, and with players that he and Troy Lesesne have specifically chosen. There’s a lot of cap space that opens up by saying good-bye to those players.
Klich has an option, but I’d be pretty thrilled if they renegotiated and gave him a two year TAM deal, allowing them to bring in a new DP, and then if they bought Peltola’s deal down with allocation money, then they can bring in another new DP.
Or, they can just roll with two DPs, get two more U-22s to supplement Pirani and Ku-DiPietro, and add $2 million in allocation to pad out their rosters. That sort of seems like the better option to raise the overall floor of the club. But they’re also pretty clearly built around Benteke at this point, so they have two more years of that window. Is the better way to service that to just find the two best, highest-level DPs you can, hope they hit, and hope the rest of the club around them is good enough?
I said at the beginning of this year that 2025 was the more realistic time to judge the club. They have a lot of questions and opportunities in the offseason, and we’ll see how they address them.