Union fall 1-0 to San Jose, Club America in the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round 16 up next

The Philadelphia Union had their chances on Saturday night at Subaru Park and could not find the net. San Jose did. That is the whole story.

The Union fell 1-0 to the Earthquakes in MLS Matchday 3, a result that stings more in the context of the circumstances than the scoreline itself. Philly played without Olwethu Makhanya, who was out serving a red card suspension, and had to shuffle the backline accordingly.

Nathan Harriel moved to centerback, Giovanny Sequera came in for his MLS debut at left back, and the Union made it work well enough to keep San Jose off the board for 58 minutes.

They had their moments. Indiana Vassilev had Philly’s best chance of the first half on a beautiful passing sequence through Lukic and Damiani that ended with a shot saved by the keeper.

Harriel had a diving header in the 46th minute that looked like it was heading in before getting pushed aside at the last second. Sequera, in his MLS debut, got forward and forced a save of his own. For stretches this looked like a team that was going to find a goal.

Then Timo Werner came off the bench. Again. Just like he did in his MLS debut last weekend, the German designated player entered as a substitute and immediately changed the game, threading a pass into the box that Ousseni Bouda finished in the 59th minute.

One chance. One goal. San Jose held on from there and the Union pushed the final 30 minutes without finding an equalizer.

The silver lining is that this is Matchday 3 of a long MLS season and the Union were shorthanded on the backline. The result hurts but it is not a crisis.

What matters now is Tuesday night.

Union host Club America in first leg of Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16

Liga MX. Home crowd. Everything on the line over two legs. That is the game that matters this week and the Union need to be ready for it.

Join The Chase