Philadelphia Union suffered a 7-0 defeat against Vancouver Whitecaps FC on the road, fielding a rotated squad ahead of their upcoming U.S. Open Cup Semifinal match. Head Coach Bradley Carnell addressed the loss in his postgame press conference, stating, “We have enough reps of the 29 previous occasions where we’ve been very competitive,” and continued, “Today, we lost the battle. It’s one of those days where the sun sets and tomorrow the sun rises again. We move on. You know, no time to dwell on it. We have a game on Tuesday. Just unfortunate, but we’ll accept this in the right way. We’ll learn from this in the right way. And we’ll make sure we’ll bounce back.”
The Union made four changes to their starting lineup following a two-week FIFA International break that saw 12 players from their organization receive call-ups for international duty and after traveling across the country to British Columbia. The defensive line was altered due to centerback Olwethu Makhanya’s suspension from a red card in their previous match against Cincinnati. Nate Harriel moved into central defense alongside Jakob Glesnes, while captain Alejandro Bedoya played at right back opposite Frankie Westfield.
In midfield, Jovan Lukic, Jesus Bueno, Indiana Vassilev, and Quinn Sullivan started together with Mikael Uhre returning up front alongside Milan Iloski.
Vancouver took control early in the match at BC Place. Mathias Laborda scored first off a corner delivered by Sebastian Berhalter in the 18th minute before Emmanuel Sabbi doubled the lead six minutes later with an assist from Ali Ahmed.
Thomas Müller marked his 36th birthday by scoring twice from penalty kicks before halftime for Vancouver. A potential goal for Philadelphia by Mikael Uhre was disallowed after Video Assistant Review ruled Bedoya offside prior to delivering his cross.
Regular starters Kai Wagner, Danley Jean Jacques, and Tai Baribo were brought off the bench after Vancouver extended their lead to 4-0 before halftime.
Despite efforts early in the second half—including shots by Lukic and Vassilev—the Union could not close the gap as Sabbi added another goal just past the hour mark.
Seventeen-year-old Neil Pierre made his MLS debut for Philadelphia when he entered as center back in the 70th minute.
Vancouver’s Rayan Elloumi scored during his home debut and Müller completed his hat trick late in regulation.
Philadelphia Union will next play Nashville SC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals on Tuesday, September 16th at 8PM ET with coverage available on CBS Sports Network and Paramount Plus.
