An early goal from Ian Glavinovich held up as the Philadelphia Union won their first ever meeting with St. Louis City SC 1-0 Saturday night and returned to the top of the Eastern Conference table. For all the talk of the absences during the international break for the hosts, it was the visitors who were rattled, disjointed and forced to play more than 20 minutes down a man because of a self-inflicted wound.

In the email today:

1. 🐍 Glavinovich Leads Union to 1-0 Win

Ian Glavinovich connected with a Kai Wagner corner kick eight minutes into his first start and helped the Philadelphia Union defense pitch their second clean sheet of the season with a 1-0 win over St. Louis City SC on Saturday night at Subaru Park.

Coming off a disappointing home loss to Nashville SC six days ago, the Union put their stamp on the game early pinning St. Louis into their own end. Retaining possession for an extended period to open the game, the Union was able to create a number of dead ball chances both from corner kicks and long throw-ins from Nathan Harriel, playing in in advanced role on the right side of the midfield.

Like they did against FC Cincinnati, the Union’s high pressure and numbers against the ball forced St. Louis into poor clearances, missed passes, erratic play and soon enough ushered in the blaring of “Maria (I Like it Loud)” on the Subaru Park sound system. The early breakthrough got the River End properly rocking and also denied St. Louis a place in the MLS record books.

Needing 68 minutes to set a new record for most minutes to start an MLS season without conceding, the St. Louis defense stood less than 8 minutes to the Union and their attack did little to relieve that pressure. After weathering the early storm, the Union came close but never did find that second goal in part because of a standout performance from former Reading United goalkeeper Ben Lundt in goal. St. Louis were able to create few chances and only one shot on target on a play where Andrew Rick looked beat but was able to get a hand up to deny a shot in the box.

The Union finished the night with 72.8 percent of the possession and St. Louis only mustered .5 xG what little they did have the ball. Their evening went from bad to worse when Eduard Löwen picked up a second yellow 11 minutes after going in the book the first time with a senseless play to kick the ball away in frustration over a foul called against St. Louis. There was a short-lived surge after going down a man, but the game mostly became a pedestrian affair the final 20 minutes plus stoppage time with both managers going to the sub bench. A half chance here and there for both teams but little drama – or need to go to VAR, thankfully – en route to three points and a return to the top of the conference standings for the U.

2. ♻️ Union Pass First Depth Test

While it’s a stretch to say the Philadelphia Union were missing half their starters and that their attack was truly “depleted” as was said on the broadcast, there were real question marks for the team with so many players out on international duty heading into Saturday’s game. Alejandro Bedoya’s unexpected absence due to a “family commitment” also came into view with the release of the game day roster.

The answer to the biggest question for the starting XI ended up being the surprise head coach Bradley Carnell had alluded to in an interview with Sage Hurley earlier in the week: both Nathan Harriel and Olivier Mbaizo starting on the right side. Regular starters in the past who had battled preseason injuries, both Harriel and Mbaizo had given way to Frankie Westfield in the first four games.

Harriel’s long throw proved to be an early Achilles for the St. Louis defense and his deployment led to some different looks and responsibilities for him but also gave an added bite to a Union side that held the ball 72 percent of the time and limited St. Louis from asking many questions of their own.

Andrew Rick had one shot on target to contend with in his start in place of Andre Blake while Glavinovich - another presumed starter who has battled injury - had the early goal and was a calming presence in the back. Indiana Vassilev, meanwhile, was everything he’s been in his performances off the bench and more. Taking on a deeper lying role with Danley Jean Jacques out on international duty, Vassilev showed his value to his new team as a player who can slot in and play multiple roles without much of a drop-off.

Bruno Damiani is still adjusting to his new team and league but showed some positive signs with his hold-up play and did a lot of heavy lifting off the ball in place of leading goal-scorer Tai Baribo.

In the end the most noticeable absence was Daniel Gazdag, who doesn’t at this point have a like-for-like under study in the squad who can step into the starting lineup. Carnell did deploy Jeremy Rafanello off the bench with his first appearance of the season - and Cavan Sullivan has shown he can be that Gazdag-type player with Union II - but for now it’s looking like the fixture-heavy month of May might not be a time to panic the inevitable rotation and wrinkles that will come with it.

3. 🥒 Social Post of the Day: Pickle Rick

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Player Ratings

Weigh in on the individual performances and share your thoughts on last night’s win in our Player Ratings Poll.

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• PRO referees have acknowledged that the Union were in fact robbed twice in last week’s 3-1 loss to Nashville.

• Tai Baribo and Kai Wagner are still the first two players you see on the MLS stats page. Wagner added his fifth assist last night and Baribo still leads the league with 6 goals.

• The Philadelphia Union will reportedly be getting a third jersey in 2026.

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