Union battle back for 2-2 draw in Atlanta | Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union arrived in Atlanta for a key Eastern Conference matchup that featured the last unbeaten team in Major League Soccer taking on a home side that was unbeaten in league play in front of its home fans since August. Philly came into the contest with momentous three-game win streak, having done so with different lineups each time and Sunday’s starting group was no different with  two changes from last weekend’s win in Nashville. 

Curtin started in a 4-4-2 with Julian Carranza and Quinn Sullivan up top, while Daniel Gazdag manned his typical 10 spot. In the midfield, team captain Alejandro Bedoya started the match alongside Jose Martinez and Jack McGlynn. In front of the net, Nate Harriel and Kai Wagner took over the right and left sides as usual while Damion Lowe was paired with Jakob Glesnes at center back.  

With his start, Bedoya tied former teammate Ray Gaddis for the second highest number of starts in club history trailing only Andre Blake who made his return to play Sunday after missing last week’s match due to concussion protocol. 

Early on it was the Union getting the bets of the half chances with the fifth minute seeing a series of passes on the Union’s side of the pitch presenting Wagner a chance to whip the ball into the box toward Carranza. However the service didn’t quite meet the Argentinian striker’s descent toward the goal. Four minutes later it was leading scorer Daniel Gazdag who sought to break open the scoring  from the top of the box unmarked, but a slight hesitation allowed two of his opponents to crash and block the attempt. 

The Eastern Conference matchup between the two teams started to show its physicality with Julian Carranza earning a spot in the referee’s book via a yellow card after making contact with a fellow Argentinian standout in Thiago Almada while attempting to keep the ball in Philadelphia’s attacking end. 

Philly defensive back duo of Lowe and Glesnes were in sync in the first half with the Jamaican making a key clearance off a Atlanta United free kick.  Moments later it was a massive stop with the Norwegian going full stretch to clear the ball out of the box.

The Union didn’t let up their attack; in the 31st minute, a relentless attacking effort resulted in a header chance from Alejandro Bedoya, but Atlanta’s keeper Brad Guzan halted the chaos with a save.