ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ City SC saw two streaks end on Saturday night, giving up its first goal of the season and losing its first game.
Former City SC coach Bradley Carnell came out on top as his new team, the Philadelphia Union, beat City SC 1-0 at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. City SC was outplayed throughout, and had only a few scoring chances. Ben Lundt, starting his second game in goal in place of the injured Roman Burki, kept the game close with some nice saves, as Philadelphia had 2.2 expected goals to just .5 for City SC. City SC had just 27.2 percent of possession, once again turning the ball over often, and just one shot on goal in the game. Philadelphia, meanwhile, had 18 shots and nine on goal.

Union defender Ian Glavinovich scores a first half goal past ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ City defenders at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
City SC midfielder Eduard Lowen got a red card in the 66th minute, his second in 11 minutes, leaving City SC a man down for the final 24 minutes and taking him out of next week’s game against Austin. Lowen got the first for grabbing a Philadelphia player to stop a counter and the other for kicking the ball away after a foul had been called. It was the first red card for Lowen in his third season in MLS and according to , his only other red card came in a German regional league game in 2016-17.
People are also reading…
It’s the first time in the club’s three seasons that City SC has lost one of its first five MLS games of the season. In Season One, the club won its first five games and in Season Two, it had one win and four ties to start the season. Both of those teams were coached by Carnell, who was fired on July 1 after the team had gone nine games without a win.
City SC’s streak of not allowing a goal ended at 368 minutes, on a header by Philadelphia’s Ian Glavinovich off a corner kick by Kai Wagner. There could have been more, if not for Lundt making several diving saves on Union opportunities. City SC just couldn’t keep possession of the ball in the face of Philadelphia’s press, and even when City SC got the ball upfield, it couldn’t keep possession for long.
About the only chance for City SC came in the 34th minute when Simon Becher chased down a long ball but its path took him away from the goal. He backheeled a pass to Cedric Teuchert, whose shot was blocked by keeper Andrew Rick.
That was the only shot on goal for City SC in the first half, and it had only two, while Philadelphia had 13 shots, seven on goal, and 1.8 expected goals. City SC, meanwhile, picked up yellow cards by Kyle Hiebert, Chris Durkin and assistant coach Elvir Kafedzic, who was a little too vociferous in pleading for a foul call.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ City midfielder Chris Durkin (center) leaps after the soccer ball with teammate defender Kyle Hiebert against Union forward Bruno Damiani during the second half at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
With Tomas Totland out for a month with a hamstring injury, Akil Watts dropped into that spot and Simon Becher went back into the starting lineup in a forward spot. That meant designated player Klauss was not in the starting lineup for the third time in the past four games.
Coach Olof Mellberg was about to make some substitutions when Lowen was sent off, and after taking a few minutes to reconsider, brought in Klauss, Josh Yaro and Alfredo Morales, and then a few minutes later brought on Celio Pompeu.
It was a golden opportunity for City SC, which was playing a Philadelphia team that, while having won three of its first four games under Carnell, was down five starters because of international duty.