A road trip to Houston in late July was always going to be a heavy lift but the Philadelphia Union were a questionable referee call away from grabbing three points with a rotated squad. It was a case of being satisfied with a point going in but disgruntled it wasn’t three points. The Union will get a full week rest before hosting Colorado on Saturday and moved down to third in the standings but are just a point off the lead.

In the email today:

1. 🚀 Union Battle to 1-1 Draw in Houston

By Quentin Hall

The Philadelphia Union went to Shell Energy Stadium with a mixed lineup and a clear goal: make things tough for Houston and try to sneak out with a point or a win. The game was messy, physical, and full of stoppages, but the Union managed to hold on for a 1-1 draw after over 100 minutes of action.

The Union got on the board first in the 15th minute. Jakob Glesnes sent a long cross to the back post, putting Houston’s Griffin Dorsey in an awkward spot. He tried to chest the ball back to his goalie, but it fell short. Alejandro Bedoya was in the right spot to clean it up and score.

Right before halftime, in the 10th minute of added time, Jack McGlynn took a free kick that hit Jesús Bueno’s arm in the box. The ref gave a penalty, and McGlynn scored it against his old team to tie the game.

The game had a lot of back-and-forth moments, and both teams had chances. There were several fouls, video reviews, and even long delays that added over 10 minutes of extra time in both halves. It was hard for either team to keep a true rhythm.

Both teams had penalty shouts. In the first half, Houston thought they earned one after Rafanello challenged a Dynamo attacker in the box. The ref called it a foul, but after reviewing it, VAR showed Rafanello won the ball cleanly, so the call was reversed. In the second half, the Union thought they had won a penalty after Bruno Damiani was fouled in the box. The referee pointed to the spot, but after going to the monitor, he took it back. He said there was a foul by Nathan Harriel earlier in the play, claiming Harriel’s flailing arms made contact with a defender during a jumping motion. It was a soft and confusing call that even had the commentators questioning the decision.

Houston came very close to winning the match, hitting the post twice in the second half. The first chance came from a Griffin Dorsey header from a cross, and the other was a long shot from Junior Urso. The Union also lost Frankie Westfield late in the match after he got a red card for a head-nudge in a heated moment.

Players like Damiani and Bueno took a beating all night, and with this being the Union’s third match in a week, the team looked drained by the end. Even with a limited squad in the final stretches of the match, they stuck to their usual road strategy: defend hard, make it ugly, and steal a result.

2. 🐍 Union II Win Big in North Carolina

Malik Jakupovic can’t stop scoring. The 16-year-old forward made it give goals in four appearances in MLS Next Pro for Philadelphia Union II last night against Crown Legacy in a 4-0 win.

Eddy Davis II scored his fourth of the season, Nick Pariano scored his fifth career goal and an own goal rounded out the scoring in the lopsided win, which stretched the second place Union II’s unbeaten streak to eight.

3. 📺 Social Post of the Day: A Foul!?

4. 💧Water Cooler: Houston Reaction

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Penn Fusion 2009 girls conceded a first half goal and were never able to find an equalizer in a 1-0 loss to MVLA in the ECNL Girls U-16 semifinal yesterday.

• West Chester United has had a tough weekend - dropping out of the USL2 playoffs with a 2-0 loss to NOVA FC in Virginia and coming up short in the NPSL East Region final last night at Alvernia with a 2-1 loss to Ristozi FC. They still have one more competition to play for though with the National Amateur Cup this weekend in Milwaukee.

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