Each Major League Soccer matchday in 2021, the KeyBank Scouting Report will give you this snapshot of the Portland Timbers’ next opponent. On Sunday, Portland visits Subaru Park and the winners of 2020’s Supporters’ Shield, the Philadelphia Union. The game kicks off at 4:00 p.m. Pacific and is being broadcast on FS1.
Team Form
In terms of their record, the Philadelphia Union are off to another good start, sitting only three points off the lead in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. Though they’re “only” 3-2-2 so far, that record has been amassed as the team balanced regular-season games with their Concacaf Champions League commitment. The Union are MLS’s last team in that tournament and will face Mexico’s Club América in this summer’s semifinals.
In attack
The Union’s results may be fine, but the goalscoring hasn’t been, so far. Through seven games, Philadelphia has only scored six times, registering exactly one goal in each of their last three matches.
The goals come from …
The team’s most dangerous player so far has been Jamaican international forward Cory Burke, whose two goals have come in 363 minutes. Fellow striker Kacper Przybylko has also scored twice, though he’s had an additional 137 minutes of playing time to do so.
… and the goals come through
Here, the team leader is clearer – as least, it’s clear for now. In his third season with Philadelphia, midfielder Jamiro Monteiro was three assists in seven games, running his career total to 18 (in 55 games) since joining the Union before the 2019 season. Monteiro is also Philadelphia’s most accurate passer, completing 82.7 percent of his attempts, and leads the team with 160 passes in the opponent’s half of the field.
As the year goes on, though, Dániel Gazdag should prove Philadelphia’s most prolific playmaker. The Hungarian international signed with the Union this month and made his first MLS appearance May 23 against D.C. United. Last season in the Hungarian first division, Gazdag scored 13 goals in 30 games, registering eight assists while spending time at both attacking midfield and forward.
Defending
This is where the Union have earned their points this season. Despite only scoring six times, Philadelphia has only allowed five goals, a mark that’s tied for fourth fewest in MLS. Over their last four games, the Union have only conceded once, and they’ll carry a 185-minute shutout streak into Portland’s visit.
Stalwart
If five years ago you’d asked someone familiar with Major League Soccer if goalkeeper Andre Blake was long for the league, they probably would have said no, and the Jamaican international would be playing overseas before long. Instead, the now-30-year-old looks like a Union lifer, with 2021 marking his eighth season with the club.
During that time, Blake has seen his team grow from an also-ran that lacked direction to one of the more consistent teams in the Eastern Conference. He was part of his first team honor last season, with a Supporters’ Shield adding to a resume which, as an individual, includes two Best-XI appearances, two All-Star selections, and two Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
Game Notes
- The Timbers’ trip to Philadelphia will be their season’s first venture to the Eastern time zone, but it won’t be their longest trip, so far. The 2864-mile distance to the City of Brotherly Love is 875 miles shorter than the April trip Portland made to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in Concacaf Champions League.
- Portland last faced the Union in 2020’s MLS is Back Tournament semifinals, defeating Philadelphia 2-1 before going on to win the final with the same score.
- That match was the Timbers’ fifth-straight win over the Union and ran Portland’s all-time record against Philadelphia to 7-1-3. The team’s only loss came back in 2015 – a 3-0 defeat when Portland gave up three second-half goals in the span of 13 minutes.
- We mentioned the Union’s running shutout streak, above. The Timbers are also coming off back-to-back shutouts. Their shutout streak will be 191 minutes at kickoff.
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