The Philadelphia Union and CF Montreal each ended Saturday night with 10 men as they played to an entertaining 2-2 draw in their final match until June 15 due to the FIFA international break.
Montreal (4-7-5, 17 points), which took a 1-0 lead thanks to Sunusi Ibrahim’s goal less than a minute into the match, saw Ariel Lassiter’s initial yellow card get upgraded to a red card late in the first half. Then Montreal conceded two quick goals in the second half before Samuel Piette’s equalizer moments after Philadelphia’s Jack Elliott was given his own marching orders in the 63rd minute.
Montreal extended its unbeaten streak to three matches (1-0-2). Philadelphia is now winless in its past six home matches (0-4-2).
Ibrahim, who scored twice in a 4-2 win against D.C. United on Wednesday, staked his team to an early lead just 49 seconds into the match. He let loose from beyond the box and beat Philadelphia goalkeeper Oliver Semmle to make it 1-0. It was the fifth-fastest goal in club history.
After Lassiter’s red card in the 45th minute, the Union (4-4-8, 20 points) pulled level in the 56th minute after Daniel Gazdag won a penalty after being tripped up by Montreal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza in the box. The Hungarian midfielder, set to join his country for Euro 2024, calmly struck it past Breza for his 50th regular-season goal in a Union kit, tying Sebastian Le Toux for the club’s all-time lead.
Just over two minutes later, the Union went ahead 2-1 as Quinn Sullivan took a Montreal giveaway and played a perfect ball to Mikael Uhre, who created space for himself in the box for the finish.
Philadelphia, though, saw its own ranks reduced to 10 men as Elliott caught Raheem Edwards with a dangerous sliding challenge. Referee Ted Unkel initially flashed a yellow card but quickly changed it to a red card.
And Montreal took advantage in the 66th minute. A free kick found its way toward the net and was parried off the woodwork by Semmle, but Piette eventually poked it in for the equalizer as the teams ultimately settled for a point each.
The Union were without second-leading scorer Julian Carranza for the second straight match due to an ankle injury. The 24-year-old striker is in “advanced talks” with Dutch first-division side Feyenoord on a transfer, according to The Athletic.
–Field Level Media
