Union bottle it… again

It has not been an easy existence for the Philadelphia Union. Filled with pain, missed opportunities and, ultimately, failure, this was another case of the Union not turning up when it mattered most.

They did precisely this earlier this very season when they lost to the Houston Dynamo in emphatic fashion in the U.S. Open Cup final. They have now lost three U.S. Open Cup finals in the last five years. The emptiness at the end of a trying and tiresome campaign is nothing new to Union fans.

Two seasons ago, Philadelphia were one of the better teams in MLS around the halfway point. But after a winless slump of seven-straight matches to close out the year, they eventually fell at the knockout round in the playoffs.

Although the Union were never quite considered an elite MLS team this time around, New York were the ones that had floundered in the latter months of the season. This was Philadelphia’s chance to make a deep run in the playoffs and potentially end their trophyless record. But they failed. They bottled it. This is all becoming a little too predictable.