Thursday, October 1, 2026
77 ° Clear
77 ° Clear
After scoring two goals in stoppage time and three unanswered goals to beat a 10-man Atlanta United by the score of 3-2 at Subaru Park on Saturday night, the Philadelphia Union have won three consecutive games under Interim Head Coach Ryan Richter following the lengthy World Cup break and a one win, four draws, and 10 losses start to the season.
Coming off consecutive wins at Subaru Park, it felt like the Union was gifted a golden opportunity to extend their winning streak in the 26th minute when Atlanta’s Enea Mihaj was shown a straight red for a bad challenge on Union’s Milan Iloski, putting Atlanta down a man for the remainder of the match and injecting some life into the home crowd.
Despite being down a man, it was the visitors who opened the scoring just 4 minutes later after Miguel Almirón got behind the backline and beat both Frankie Westfield and Neil Pierre to a loose ball before squeaking it past Andre Blake and giving Atlanta the 1-0 lead in the 30th minute.
Up a man but down a goal, the Blue and Gold came out of the halftime break on the front foot and searching for the equalizer. But despite asking question after question of Atlanta’s backline, who were doing their best to survive down to 10 men, the Union failed to find the back of the net and instead conceded a 2nd in 66th minute thanks to a right-footed curler from Tristan Muyumba which evaded the out-stretched hands of Andre Blake, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead with just under 20 minutes and stoppage time to go.
In the 73rd minute, Union’s Milan Iloski gave the Union faithful some hope after running onto a ball crossed into the middle of the box from Kai Wagner and flicking it on and past Atlanta’s keeper to make the game 2-1. The goal from Iloski was his eighth in his last six games and his 10th of the MLS season overall.
Deep into stoppage time and with Union’s window of equalizing starting to fade, it was the head of Neil Pierre that found the back of the net and brought Union level in the 96th minute of the match.
Kai Wagner, who notched his second assist on the tying goal on the season, put the ball into the middle of the box for 6-foot-7-inch Neil Pierre to meet and redirect into the corner of the net. The equalizing goal was Pierre’s 2nd since returning to Philadelphia from his loan in Denmark.
Moments later and with the final whistle approaching, Kai Wagner once again sent the ball into the middle of the box with his left foot, which found Union’s record-signing Exekiel Alladoh in the box with his back to goal.
Alladoh planted his right foot, swung his left at the ball with his back still facing the net, and spun a first-touch volley past Lucas Hoyos and into the back of the net to secure all three points for the Union and to extend their winning streak to three consecutive games under Ryan Richter coming out of the World Cup break.
The win moves Union’s overall record to four wins, four draws, and 10 losses for a total of 16 points, leaving them seven points out of the final playoff spot with plenty of matches left to play.
The Union return to action at home on Thursday night as the Blue and Gold host Liga MX’s Cruz Azul in the club’s first match of the 2026 Leagues Cup.
