It was always going to be coming but the letdown of both the first team and Union II seeing their unbeaten streaks to start the season go up in flames in the same weekend was less than fun. For the first team it was a case of not being good enough but also not capitalizing in a loss on a late golazo and for Union II playing in Kentucky it was a case of an in form striker and a golazo not being enough. Happy Monday!

In the email today:

1. 🤕 Let Down in Late April

The Philadelphia Union are unbeaten no more after a frustrating and rare loss at home to Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.

Playing after two weeks off, the Union showed their rust but also demonstrated their ability to come back in the second half when a Daniel Gazdag backheel off a Quinn Sullivan assist leveled the score in the 50th minute.

The equalizer came after an odd first half goal for the visitors when Andre Blake got his left hand on a line-drive shot from Andres Gomez that snuck into the goal on the backspin. The goal was assisted by the in form Chicho Arango who made it 15 goal contributions in 11 games to start the season.

Gazdag’s leveler in the 50th minute was a historic one, tying him with Sebastien Le Toux for the most goals scored in club history in all competitions.

Gazdag really should’ve surpassed Le Toux – who was a guest bartender for the opening of Union Yards before the game – when Kai Wagner found him on a cross in front of goal on a run between the RSL centerbacks in the 61st minute. Gazdag’s mishit on the service – along with a golden chance squandered by Mikael Uhre 10 minutes later – would prove costly in the long run when a free kick was cleared by Jakob Glesnes right to a waiting Alexandros Katranis outside the box in the 89th minute. Katranis one-touched the clearance down and ripped a goal off the hop to send another crowd of 19,000-plus home grumpy.

The meeting was the first between the two teams at Subaru Park in nearly six years and the loss was the first for the Union in a regular season match at home since March of last year. While the Union looked sloppy at times, they were also a bit hard done on a night when they outshot their opponent 15-9 and had a sizable 2.0 to .05 advantage in xG.

2. 🛝 Bend It Like Tuck

For all of the talk about the ages of players in a Union II squad that was unbeaten heading into Sunday, the oldest player in the team has been quietly snatching some of the attention with his free kick prowess.

Kyle Tucker made it two free kick goals on the season with another beauty in Kentucky on Sunday to cut the FC Cincinnati 2 lead in half. It wasn’t enough to spark another comeback but it was another display of skill from the talented 24-year-old from Phoenixville.

The skipper has already won one goal of the week honor. Could it be a second for the Drexel grad?

3. 📆 Tweet of the Day: Rare L

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Gazdag Record Breaker

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Todd Lewis of The Free Kick Podcast broke down the goals and would-be goals from Saturday night’s loss. It feels right that it would take a goal of the week-type goal to beat the Union in their building.

• Evan Cohen recapped Union II’s loss on Sunday.

• Jared Young and his son checked out some of the local to Subaru Park places to grab a bite on game days.

• If you are interested in local lower level soccer and fan culture there’s a newsletter launching soon called For the Love. Subscribe at forthelove.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

Celebrate Philadelphia Soccer heritage with shirts available at OldSchoolShirts.com.

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