Happy SunDAY after another home Union win day! Don’t look now but the Union are surging again, feasting on an historically weak opponent with another 3-0 win in convincing fashion in front of the home fans at Subaru Park. The win was the fourth already this season at home, matching the total of all of last season. Let’s gooooo!

In the email today:

1. ⚡️ DC Domination

An early goal from Jakob Glesnes, sturdy defense and a pair of second half strikes continued the Philadelphia Union’s dominance over DC United on Saturday afternoon and made it two 3-0 wins in a row at home for a team surging up the standings heading into a fixture-heavy month of May.

Similar to Quinn Sullivan’s early strike in the win over Atlanta United last week, Glesnes put the hosts up in the 15th minute with a lovely finish in the upper right hand corner of the net off a cross from Frankie Westfield. The goal was the first of the season for Glesnes and was the only shot on target for the Union in a first half that saw a DC United with the bulk of the chances unable to find the back of the net.

It would prove to be a theme of the day as DC pressed for an equalizer after halftime, only to concede a second to Danley Jean Jacques on a solo effort dribbling through the midfield and scoring on a left-footed shot from distance in the 52nd minute and substitute Bruno Damiani creating his own chance with a great turn in the box and finish in the 77th minute.

While the Union outshot DC United in the end – 12-11 on shots and 6-5 on shots on goal – the bulk of those attempts came in the 80th minute and later when the outcome was already well decided. All three of DC goalkeeper Luis Barraza’s saves came in second half stoppage time. In the end, the Union were able to continue their dominance over DC making the most of the chances they had and finishing while DC – like Atlanta last week – did not.

Jean Jacques continued his strong run of form contributing on both sides of the ball, this time with partner Jovan Lukic serving a suspension and Jesus Bueno deputizing as the other No. 6. The Haitian international’s growing confidence against the ball and with it in the attacking third has been key to back-to-back wins and on Saturday extending the Union’s unbeaten streak at home against DC United to 13 games and to 7 games overall. You have to go all the way back to August 2021 to find the last time DC United beat the Union and to October 2014 the last time DC did it in a league game in Chester.

The Union did catch a little bit of luck with offensive weapons Christian Benteke and João Peglow out of the United lineup but the Nathan Harriel at center back experiment produced good returns again and Andre Blake had plenty to do – if not fully tested – with five saves on the day.

Ten games into the season, the Union sit in third place in the Eastern Conference and are resembling the team they were in 2022 when they were scoring goals and shutting teams out with ease. Their fourth home win on Saturday matches their home win total for all of 2024 and they’ve conceded just once in those four wins.

2. 🗓️ Fixture-Heavy May Looms Large

Sweeping Atlanta and DC at home in convincing fashion has the Union once again flying high and looking like teams of old.

Surviving a grueling month of road trips and midweek tests, however, could be the true test of the capacity of this year’s teams has to not only return to the playoffs but make a deep run.

The Union have 24 games left on the season and nearly a third of those matches will be played in May with trips to Montreal, Atlanta, Toronto and Frisco, Texas sandwiched into a run of games that includes a midweek match-up against 2024 semifinalists Indy Eleven in the U.S. Open Cup and the potential for a second Open Cup match. A minimum of eight and a possibility of nine matches awaits Union fans over the next month.

Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell was able to get a longer run out for Cavan Sullivan and ended up using five of his subs in the home stretch of the 3-0 win and the fresh legs did well upping the pressure, forcing all three of Luis Barraza’s saves on the day in second half stoppage time so if that’s a preview to what we’ll see in terms of rotation in May it was a promising one.

Whether is the younger Sullivan, Chris Donovan finding his feet, Jesus Bueno eating up minutes or Jeremy Rafanello scoring one of his trademark bangers, Carnell is going to need his depth to step up and contribute to grind out results. If nothing else, it will be a month where the weather should improve and the 2025 version of the team - from the starters to the bench - will get an opportunity to show to fans and the league what they are really all about.

3. 🏛️ Social Post of the Day: DC

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Player Ratings Poll

Weigh in on the performances yesterday in our Player Ratings Poll.

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