Philly Leader

Philadelphia Union kicked off their 2025 season with a 4-2 victory over Orlando City at Inter & CO Stadium. This match marked the debut of Bradley Carnell as the head coach for Philadelphia Union.

Carnell expressed his satisfaction with the team's performance, stating, “I’m just happy for the players. Over the last five, six weeks we’ve prepared for this game, we've had some really good opponents, and we've challenged the players in many ways. For them to come out and be challenged here in this game was kind of a microcosm of the whole preseason.”

Despite an early setback with Orlando City scoring first in the eighth minute, Philadelphia Union managed to turn things around. Tai Baribo equalized in the 24th minute, followed by goals from Daniel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre in the second half. Baribo noted their teamwork saying, “We have a good connection. Last season when I started to play, I started to know Mikael and Dani more, and I'm happy that we continue this.”

Baribo's two goals marked his sixth career multi-goal match. Meanwhile, Gazdag's goal continued his streak of scoring in season openers for three consecutive years.

The match also saw four players making their debut for Philadelphia Union: Olwethu Makhanya, Frankie Westfield, Jovan Lukic, and Ian Glavinovich. Baribo commented on team unity: “We are one unit. You can see it in the training, everybody supporting each other."

Frankie Westfield became notable as he made history by becoming the 15th Homegrown player to start for Philadelphia Union and earned his first career assist during his debut.

Team captain Andre Blake celebrated a milestone with his 300th appearance for Philadelphia Union and contributed six saves during the match.