San Diego

Match report

Philadelphia Union went to Snapdragon Stadium and left with a five-goal advantage. The visitors beat San Diego 5:0 in the twenty-fifth matchday of the Major League Soccer regular season. Cavan Sullivan scored twice, Bruno Damiani added one, and Aníbal Godoy turned the ball into his own net.

To be fair, the opening twenty minutes looked even enough on paper. San Diego controlled the ball with fifty-eight percent possession and looked comfortable in their own half. Then came the first real moment. Bruno Damiani picked up a yellow card in the twenty-seventh minute, and the visitors began to sense blood. By half-time, Cavan Sullivan had given Philadelphia the lead with a goal in the forty-fifth minute. The home side had dominated possession but failed to convert any of their chances into something meaningful.

And here's the thing about the second half. Philadelphia came out with purpose and found a way back into it immediately. Sullivan scored his second in the sixty-first minute, just minutes after three fresh legs came on for both sides. Damiani added a third in the sixty-seventh. Godoy's own goal in the eighty-seventh sealed the damage.

The numbers tell a different story than the possession charts suggest. San Diego had more passes into the final third—109 compared to 85—but also more failed passes, eighty-five versus seventy-eight. Philadelphia created five big chances against two, and their expected goals figure of 2.75 dwarfs San Diego's 1.21. Shots accuracy matters when you're down five goals. Five on target for each side, but Philadelphia's efficiency was undeniable.

We had given San Diego a fifty-one percent chance of winning this one. The match went another way entirely, and it was clear from the first yellow card that the visitors would not be pushed back. San Diego paid for a sloppy opening and gave away too many cheap fouls in dangerous areas. They are now nine points behind the top four with no games left to play.

Prepared from match data

Key numbers

Possession, % 58.00 – 42

Shots on target 5 – 5

Shots off target 4 – 12

Expected goals 1.21 – 2.75

🟨 27' Bruno Damiani — Yellow card 🟨 45+2' Alejandro Alvarado Jr — Yellow card ⚽ 45+5' Cavan Sullivan — Goal 🟨 45+7' Neil Pierre — Yellow card ⇄ 60' Onni Valakari — Substitution ⇄ 60' Alejandro Alvarado Jr — Substitution ⇄ 60' Amahl Pellegrino — Substitution ⚽ 61' Cavan Sullivan — Goal ⚽ 67' Bruno Damiani — Goal ⇄ 70' Indiana Vassilev — Substitution ⇄ 73' Elias Achouri — Substitution ⇄ 77' Cavan Sullivan — Substitution ⇄ 77' Bruno Damiani — Substitution ⇄ 81' Ian Murphy — Substitution ⇄ 86' Neil Pierre — Substitution ⇄ 86' Milan Iloski — Substitution ⚽ 87' Aníbal Godoy — Own goal 🟨 90+1' Oscar Verhoeven — Yellow card ⚽ 90+4' Malik Jakupovic — Goal

Match events

27' Philadelphia Union Yellow card Bruno Damiani
45+2' San Diego Yellow card Alejandro Alvarado Jr
45+5' Philadelphia Union Goal Cavan Sullivan assist: Indiana Vassilev
45+7' Philadelphia Union Yellow card Neil Pierre
60' San Diego Substitution Onni Valakari off: David Vazquez
60' San Diego Substitution Alejandro Alvarado Jr off: Aníbal Godoy
60' San Diego Substitution Amahl Pellegrino off: Cédric Bakambu
61' Philadelphia Union Goal Cavan Sullivan assist: Indiana Vassilev
67' Philadelphia Union Goal Bruno Damiani assist: Francis Westfield
70' Philadelphia Union Substitution Indiana Vassilev off: Quinn Sullivan
73' San Diego Substitution Elias Achouri off: Bryan Zamblé
77' Philadelphia Union Substitution Cavan Sullivan off: Jesus Bueno
77' Philadelphia Union Substitution Bruno Damiani off: Ezekiel Kwame Alladoh
81' San Diego Substitution Ian Murphy off: Dagur Dan Þórhallsson
86' Philadelphia Union Substitution Neil Pierre off: Japhet Sery Larsen
86' Philadelphia Union Substitution Milan Iloski off: Malik Jakupovic
87' Philadelphia Union Own goal Aníbal Godoy
90+1' San Diego Yellow card Oscar Verhoeven
90+4' Philadelphia Union Goal Malik Jakupovic

Statistics

58.00 Possession, % 42

5 Shots on target 5

4 Shots off target 12

1.21 Expected goals 2.75

2 Big chances 5

108 Attacks 91

11 Corners 4

13 Fouls 15

14 Free kicks 13

1 Offsides 1

2 Yellow cards 2

0 Red cards 0

11 Goal kicks 9

12 Throw-ins 13

All statistics

13/3043% Aerial duels 17/3057%

95 Backward passes 71

1 Blocked shots 4

17 Clearances 31

2/239% Crosses 6/1443%

5/1338% Dribbles 4/1331%

0.69 Expected assists 1.60

85 Failed passes 78

1 Goalkeeper saves 5

9 Interceptions 19

8 Key passes 13

22/3956% Long passes 18/5235%

109 Passes into the final third 85

291 Passes in the opposition half 268

285 Passes in own half 144

0.50 Shot accuracy 0.24

1 Shots from outside the box 7

9 Shots inside the box 14

9/1560% Tackles 9/1464%

553 Total passes 398

Line-ups

Starting XI
#	Player	number
18	Duran Ferree	18
5	Kieran Sargeant	5
26	M. Duah	26
32	Ian Murphy	32
33	Oscar Verhoeven	33
6	Jeppe Tverskov	6
8	Onni Valakari	8
70	Alejandro Alvarado Jr	70
10	Anders Laustrup Dreyer	10
90	Amahl William D'Vaz Pellegrino	90
99	Elias Achouri	99

Substitutes
#	Player	number
13	Pablo Eduardo Sisniega Fink	13
3	Dagur Dan Þórhallsson	3
23	Samuel Marqus Lloyd Vines	23
97	Christopher McVey	97
15	Pedro Soma	15
19	David Vazquez	19
20	Aníbal Casis Godoy Lemus	20
14	B. B. Zamble	14
94	Cédric Bakambu	94

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Philadelphia Union

Starting XI
#	Player	number
18	Andre Blake	18
26	Nathan Lee William Harriel	26
27	Kai Harley Wagner	27
39	Frankie Westfield	39
44	N. Pierre	44
4	Jovan Lukić	4
6	K. Sullivan	6
19	Indiana Denchev Vassilev	19
21	Danley Jean-Jacques	21
9	Bruno Damiani	9
10	Milan Iloski	10

Substitutes
#	Player	number
76	Andrew Rick	76
5	Japhet Sery Larsen	5
8	Jesus Bueno	8
11	Alejandro Bedoya	11
16	Ben Bender	16
33	Quinn Sullivan	33
23	E. Alladokh	23
28	Augustin Anello	28
51	Malik Jakupović	51

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Match prediction: San Diego — Philadelphia Union

Win: San Diego

Confidence 51%

Reasoning

Сан-Диего — 9. place, 30 points after 24 games (8 wins, 6 draws, 10 losses)
Филадельфия Юнион — 8. place, 30 points after 24 games (8 wins, 6 draws, 10 losses)
Сан-Диего, last 5 games: 2 wins, 3 losses
Филадельфия Юнион, last 5 games: 3 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses

Full prediction

Analytical content. Not a call to gamble. 18+

Recent form

San Diego

WWLLLD

Recent matches

All team matches

Philadelphia Union

DWWWWW

Recent matches

All team matches

#	Team	P	W	D	L	Points
1	Vancouver Whitecaps	25	15	4	6	49
2	Houston Dynamo	26	13	5	8	44
3	St. Louis City SC	26	12	8	6	44
4	FC Dallas	26	12	8	6	44
5	San Jose Earthquakes	26	12	6	8	42
6	Los Angeles FC	27	11	8	8	41
7	Colorado Rapids	26	11	3	12	36
8	Los Angeles Galaxy	27	8	9	10	33
9	Portland Timbers	26	9	5	12	32
10	San Diego	26	8	7	11	31

San Diego — Philadelphia Union, Major League Soccer

Match report

Key numbers

Match events

Statistics

Line-ups

San Diego

Philadelphia Union

Match prediction: San Diego — Philadelphia Union

Reasoning

Recent form

San Diego

Philadelphia Union