Match Recap: Andre Blake Stands Tall as Union Secure Point in Frustrating 0-0 Draw with Orlando City
The Jamaican International Made Three Saves, Earning His Second Clean Sheet of the Season and the Union’s Third
Chester — Despite outshooting Orlando City, it was Andre Blake who came to the rescue for the Union, ensuring they secured a point in their 0-0 draw. The Union created a few half-chances, with Bruno Damiani being the recipient of those opportunities, but the Uruguayan was unable to finish them off in his second start for the team.
Bradley Carnell made one change from last week’s lineup that faced Inter Miami, with Bruno Damiani replacing Mikael Uhre for his second start in his early Union career. Andre Blake started in goal, with the backline consisting of Nathan Harriel at left back for the injured Kai Wagner, Jakob Glesnes, Ian Glavinovich, and Frankie Westfield, who has now used all six of his short-term call-ups, meaning he must be added to the Union’s Supplemental Roster. Danley Jean Jacques and Jovan Lukić started as the two No. 6s, while Quinn Sullivan and Dániel Gazdag started as the dual No. 10s. Tai Baribo partnered Damiani up top.
The Union started the game brightly, with Nathan Harriel registering the first shot of the match. Ian Glavinovich played a long ball up top for Bruno Damiani to trap and find Harriel with a pass. Eventually, Harriel and Damiani combined for a give-and-go, but Harriel’s shot was blocked by Orlando City’s Rodrigo Schlegel.
The Union’s best chance came in the 30th minute when Jovan Lukić shot from distance, but Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese made the save and pushed it out for a Union corner kick.
It took Orlando City 41 minutes to register their first shot of the game. Robbin Jansson played a long ball up to Luis Muriel, who flicked it onto Martín Ojeda. Orlando found themselves with a 2v1 opportunity, with Ojeda passing to an open Marco Pašalić on his right, but Andre Blake saved Pašalić’s shot.
The Union and Orlando City headed into halftime tied 0-0, with the Union outshooting Orlando 10 (2 on target) to 1 (1 on target). Orlando forced the Union to take six of those 10 shots from outside the 18-yard box. This marked the fourth time this season that the Union have gone into halftime without conceding a goal and the third time they’ve entered the break tied. The Union also led in possession, 59-41.
As seen so often this season, the Union came out of the half with the best chance to start the second period. In the 47th minute, Bruno Damiani had an effort saved by a knee save from Pedro Gallese, keeping the score level at 0-0.
Damiani had another chance in the 59th minute after a cross into the six-yard box by Dániel Gazdag. Orlando City’s Alex Freeman did enough to put Damiani off with his header, as the attempt sailed over the crossbar.
Bradley Carnell made his first two changes of the game in the 68th minute, with Mikael Uhre and Indiana Vassilev replacing Bruno Damiani and Dániel Gazdag.
Orlando City had their second clear-cut chance in the 71st minute after Danley Jean Jacques gave away possession in Orlando’s half of the field. Orlando hit on the counterattack, with Ojeda and Duncan McGuire leading the way. Ojeda eventually found a streaking Luis Muriel unmarked on the right side, but Blake came up strong with his second save of the night.
Orlando continued to grow into the game, registering the next four shots. Defender Kyle Smith had the best chance in the 78th minute with a header from a Muriel cross, but Blake saved it comfortably.
Quinn Sullivan and Tai Baribo were replaced by Cavan Sullivan and Alejandro Bedoya in the 81st minute.
Neither team created any meaningful chances for the rest of the game, which ended 0-0, giving the Union their third clean sheet of the season.
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ORL – Robin Jansson (caution) 35’
ORL – Luis Muriel (caution) 52’
ORL – Joran Gerbet (caution) 58’
PHI – Bruno Damiani (caution) 65’
PHI – Nathan Harriel (caution) 74’
ORL – Dagur Thorhallsson (caution) 75’
PHI – Quinn Sullivan (caution) 76’
PHI – Indiana Vassilev (caution) 90+3’
ORL – Pedro Gallese (caution) 90+4’
Key Moments
41st minute - Andre Blake makes a save on Marco Pašalić.
47th minute - Bruno Damiani has a chance to make it 1-0, but Pedro Gallese comes up with a knee save.
70th minute - Andre Blake makes his second save of the game after Danley Jean Jacques gives the ball away in Orlando’s half, leading to Orlando’s counterattack.
Orlando City Came With A Game Plan
Orlando City arrived at Subaru Park with a clear strategy: delay as much as possible and frustrate the Union. They succeeded. There were 27 fouls called on the night, nine of which resulted in yellow cards, along with 10 corner kicks and 48 throw-ins—plenty of stoppages in the game.
The Union registered 21 shots compared to Orlando City’s six, with 11 of the Union’s shots coming from outside the 18-yard box. This was a stark contrast to their first meeting six games ago, when the Union took only four shots from outside the 18.
Many of the Union’s 21 shots seemed wasted, taken from less dangerous areas of the field. Head coach Bradley Carnell attributed part of this to Orlando’s deliberate time-wasting, which killed the game’s energy.
“Yeah, when every goal kick takes three minutes to get going, when every foul has a discussion, and when every ball is not placed at the right moment, we try to keep the momentum, the aggression, and the intensity,” Carnell said after the game. “And again, our job here is not just to play a soccer game. I think all the fans pay a decent, fair price for the tickets, and the tickets are for entertainment. We build a game model to entertain the fans, to be successful, and to play with urgency and energy. It’s just tough doing it alone.”
For a team that thrives on a high-tempo style of play like the Union, it’s understandable why Carnell was frustrated with Orlando’s approach. However, Orlando City is clearly doing something right on the road, having lost only nine games away in MLS over the last three seasons (17-11-9). As annoying as their time-wasting tactics may be, they’ve worked in their favor.
Union forward Mikael Uhre spoke after the game about the importance of not letting those tactics get into the heads of him and his teammates.
“You saw it early on, so it’s just about not letting that get in your head and focusing on the job at hand,” Uhre said. “Because if you start to play into that, then you lose a little bit of your mind in the game, and then you start worrying about the wrong things.”
Lineup Changes
Bruno Damiani made his second start of the season for the Union, replacing Mikael Uhre. Damiani played 68 minutes and had two chances to give the Union the lead: once with a left-footed strike from close range that was saved by Gallese, and another with a header that went over the crossbar. He was excellent in the air, winning 5/7 aerial duels and flicking on key headers to teammates. He also dropped into midfield to combine with his teammates through strong hold-up play. It was a promising second start for the young Uruguayan forward; he just couldn’t find the back of the net.
Seeing Damiani subbed off after 68 minutes isn’t unusual for Carnell, who often switches strikers in the second half to inject new energy due to the high work rate he and his staff demand from the forwards.
“Sometimes it’s just an ignition of new energy because we ask the strikers and the front four to do a lot in the game,” Carnell said. “I think it’s only normal and natural for guys to run out of steam a little bit. I’m glad if we have the type of player personnel that we have on the bench to bring them on. I think Mika [Mikael Uhre] came in and did a good job. I think Bruno put himself about in the first half. I’m really happy with the proceedings tonight and the way the game went. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t score the goal.”
With Kai Wagner missing his second consecutive game due to an oblique injury, Carnell once again went with Nathan Harriel and Frankie Westfield as his fullbacks. Last week against Inter Miami, Carnell deployed Harriel at right back and Westfield at left back, but against Orlando City, he opted to start Harriel on the left and Westfield on the right. Post-game, Carnell explained that the switch was a tactical decision made by the team during the week.
“Pašalić is a certain danger, and we’ve seen his threat. I think to see the progression of the game—to see Angulo get subbed off at halftime, to see Pašalić get subbed off in the second half—it’s a testament to Nathan and Frankie’s hard work and effort,” Carnell said.
“I think we saw that for many phases it was the right decision. I’m glad about the way they put themselves about. And I’m happy for the backline. We’ve asked a lot of them in the last couple of days in terms of just connecting and shifting and the way we get on the ball side. So I’m really happy with Ian and Jakob’s aggression and desire to keep the backline connected. I was very happy with the back four today. And Dre comes up with one or two big saves as well.”
Pašalić had a quiet game, playing 68 minutes, registering one shot, and creating no chances for Orlando City. Coming into the match, Pašalić was tied with Martín Ojeda for the most goals scored (4) this season for Orlando City. Angulo, on the other side of Pašalić, played only the first half before being subbed off; in his 45 minutes, he touched the ball just 16 times and didn’t register a chance created or a shot.
Though Westfield and Harriel were both solid defensively for the Union, it was evident that the team struggled once again to create meaningful opportunities on the left-hand side. Harriel created one chance on the left and completed his only cross of the night. Without Wagner on the left, the Union continue to be limited in their attacking options on that flank, forcing more chances to come through the middle and the right side. Quinn Sullivan played 81 minutes on the left for the Union and created three chances, but even his performance was lackluster compared to his usual output.
What’s Next?
The Union head to Citi Field this Saturday to take on NYCFC (2-3-2, 7 pts), who, like the Union, also have a new coach in Pascal Jansen. The Union have enjoyed recent success away at NYCFC over the last three years, winning all three matches at Citi Field/Yankee Stadium by a combined score of 10-2.