{"id":309194,"date":"2026-10-18T08:22:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T08:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/309194\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T08:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T08:22:23","slug":"recap-damiani-equalizer-pushes-union-unbeaten-run-to-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/309194\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap | Damiani equalizer pushes Union unbeaten run to 15"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Philadelphia Union earned a hard-fought point at Subaru Park on Saturday afternoon, battling Charlotte FC to a 2-2 draw in an action-packed Eastern Conference matchup.<\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia opened the scoring midway through the first half after Charlotte was whistled for a handball inside the box. Milan Iloski stepped to the penalty spot and calmly converted in the 24th minute, giving the Boys in Blue a 1-0 advantage and sending them into halftime in front at Subaru Park.<\/p>\n<p>The match shifted quickly after the restart as Charlotte found a pair of second-half goals to erase the deficit and take a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia, looking to protect both its eight-match winning streak and club-record unbeaten run, responded by pushing numbers forward in search of an equalizer.<\/p>\n<p>That pressure paid off in the 73rd minute when Bruno Damiani found the back of the net to pull the Union level. The goal continued a strong stretch for the forward, who entered Saturday coming off a two-goal performance that powered Philadelphia\u2019s 3-1 comeback victory over Chicago just three days earlier.<\/p>\n<p>With the match tied, the Union continued to push for a winner in the closing stages but ultimately settled for a point against Charlotte. The draw brought Philadelphia\u2019s eight-match MLS winning streak to an end, one victory shy of matching the league\u2019s single-season record, but extended the club-record unbeaten run to 15 consecutive matches.<\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia Union wraps up their October home slate next weekend hosting the New England Revolution on Saturday, October 24th. Kick off from Subaru Park is set for 7:30PM ET with tickets for the match available by <a href=\"https:\/\/seatgeek.com\/e\/events\/17920625?aid=16235&amp;pid=web&amp;rid=1007&amp;utm_medium=partnership&amp;utm_source=philadelphiaunion&amp;utm_campaign=web&amp;hide_resale=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n      How The Match Unfolded<\/p>\n<p>Interim Head Coach Ryan Richter sent out a different XI than the one that pulled off a midweek win on the road against Chicago, adding two players back into the starting group for Saturday&#8217;s home match against Charlotte.<\/p>\n<p>Andre Blake kept his post between the posts, protected by a backline featuring Nathan Harriel and Neil Pierre paired at centerback, plus Kai Wagner and Frankie Westfield on the flanks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Danley Jean Jacques returned to the midfield after missing Wednesday&#8217;s win with a foot injury, lining up as usual alongside Jovan Lukic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Indiana Vassilev was also back in the starting group, rounding out the midfield with Cavan Sullivan.<\/p>\n<p>Bruno Damiani and Milan Iloski, who have combined for 29 of the team&#8217;s 59 goals so far this season, were paired up top.<\/p>\n<p>On the bench, Andrew Rick was Blake&#8217;s backup, sitting with Japhet Sery Larsen, Ale Bedoya, Ben Bender, Jeremy Rafanello, Quinn Sullivan, Ezekiel Alladoh, Agustin Anello, and Malik Jakupovic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>2&#8242;, Free kicks | The match was a physical from the opening whistlr, with Philadelphia Union earning a pair of free kicks from fouls in the first two minutes of play.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>6&#8242;, Danley shot | After missing Wednesday&#8217;s win against Chicago on the road, Danley was back in the lineup and active early, taking the first shot of the day from central position outside of the box, forcing a save from Charlotte&#8217;s Kristijan Kahlina. His attempt earned the team a corner opportunity, but no\u00a0 Union players were able to get a foot on a promising pass through the box on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>8&#8242;, Sullivan shot | Cavan Sullivan took a shot from the right, but his attempt sailed into the Supporters&#8217; Section.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>15&#8242;, Sullivan shots | The 17-year-old phenom took another pair of chances, with the first from outside the box missing right, then the second blocked from close range by Henry Kessler.<\/p>\n<p>19&#8242;, Union corner | Vassilev chested and picked his shot in attempt to finish a corner, but was blocked by Djibril Diani.<\/p>\n<p>19&#8242;, Yellow card | Allan Saint-Maximin was shown a yellow card for a foul from Frankie Westfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>20&#8242;, Wagner shot | After a string of passes around the box, Wagner attempted to boot one toward Kahlina, but was blocked by Rodolfo Aloko, who was given a foul for a handball just outside of the box.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>20&#8242;, Wagner shot | Wagner and Iloski lined up for the free kick &#8212; the latter took the shot, but was blocked. Damiani got one off as well, but another handball from Pep Biel gave Philly a shot from the spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>24&#8242;, Union goal! | Despite a sideline exchange between Kahlina and Charlotte&#8217;s goalie coach, Iloski perfectly placed his penalty past the Croatian\u00a0 keeper to the bottom left corner, scoring his 19th of the season for a 1-0 Union lead.<\/p>\n<p>35&#8242;, Charlotte chance | Charlotte&#8217;s offense was patient to pick an opportunity, with Biel setting up Ashley Westwood to run onto a shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner, but Blake dove to make the stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>40&#8242;, Charlotte free kick | Saint-Maximin found shot off a free kick after a foul by Lukic earned Charlotte the opportunity, but the Serbian defensive midfielder blocked the ensuing effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>44&#8242;, Charlotte yellow | Morrison Agyemang was shown a yellow for a foul on Bruno Damiani near the left sideline.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>45&#8217;+1, Charlotte yellow | David Schnegg was shown a yellow card for a foul on Frankie Westfield, giving Philly another free kick that becaer a corner.<\/p>\n<p>45+2, Iloski corner | Iloski took the corner from the left, but the service went out of play.<\/p>\n<p>Halftime |\u00a0Philadelphia Union entered halftime up 1-0.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>48&#8242;, Charlotte scores |\u00a0The visitors got one back in the 48th minute by way of a goal from Rodolfo Aloko assisted by Idan Toklomati.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>53&#8242;, Post | Sullivan found Iloski foot, diverting the ball straight up\u00a0 out of Kahlina&#8217;s reach but the chance hit the cross bar.<\/p>\n<p>55&#8242;, Damiani shot | Damiani tried to get one back for Philly but missed left.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>56&#8242;, Union sub | Richter made a sub just 10 minutes into the second half, replacing Vassilev with Quinn Sullivan.<\/p>\n<p>60&#8242;, Westfield shot | A forward pass from the youngest Sullivan to the oldest spurred a promising offensive action finishing with a Westfield shot from the right side of the box, but it was saved by Kahlina.<\/p>\n<p>62&#8242;, Charlotte goal | Toklomati scored a header goal assisted Schnegg to claim the first lead of the day for the visitors.<\/p>\n<p>67&#8242;, Sullivan offside |\u00a0C. Sullivan responded with a goal but was caught offside. During the action, Damiani was taken down, requiring lengthy medical attention from the team&#8217;s training staff on the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>69&#8242;, Damiani equalizer! | Danley found Damiani for an equalizer from the centert of the box to make it 2-2! With the goal, Bruno scored his 12th of the season and ninth in the last seven matches.<\/p>\n<p>76&#8242;, Westfield block | A crucial block by Westfield to halt an shot from the left side from Adolfo energized the crowd as the team looked for the game-winner at home.<\/p>\n<p>82&#8242;, Union sub | The Union make a change with less than 10 minutes left sending in homegrown Malik Jakupovic in place of the goal-scoring Damiani.<\/p>\n<p>83&#8242;, Charlotte subs | The visitors answered with a trio of changes of their own with Allan Saint-Maximin, Djibril Daini and David Schnegg being replaced by Liel Abada, Luca de la Torre and Harry Toffolo.<\/p>\n<p>89&#8242;, Charlotte off the post | The game began to open up with end to end chances with a win seeing each side&#8217;s playoff berth chances increase. Just before the fourth official raised the board Henry Kessler had his effort ring off the post.<\/p>\n<p>90+&#8217;, Stoppage time | Twelve minutes were added to the battle between Philly and Charlotte with the Boys in Blue nearly grabbing the lead off a Cavan Sullivan flick that was saved by Kahlina.<\/p>\n<p>90+4&#8242;, Sullivan saved | Philly kept pushing to tie the league&#8217;s win streak record with Quinn Sullivan ripping a shot from close range that was pushed away by the visiting shot stopper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Philadelphia Union earned a hard-fought point at Subaru Park on Saturday afternoon, battling Charlotte FC to a 2-2&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11682,19041,6800,11938,139,69,71,70,126349],"class_list":["post-309194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-bruno-damiani","tag-danley-jean-jacques","tag-match-recap","tag-milan-iloski","tag-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-phivsclt-10-17-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}