Union faces Charlotte FC, aim to extend unbeaten streak

The Philadelphia Union will look to continue their impressive unbeaten run when they host Charlotte FC on Saturday night in Chester, Pa.

The Union (10-3-4, 34 points) are on an 11-match unbeaten streak in all competitions that sees the club atop the Eastern Conference standings as well as in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

"The guys have been incredible the last month," Philadelphia coach Bradley Carnell said. "We've been challenged. We've been up, we've been down, and we've found a way to manage all these things and bounce back every two, three days."

One way Philadelphia was able to navigate an unblemished May came down to squad depth and player rotation under Carnell, who was hired in January after the Union failed to make the playoffs in 2024.

While Tai Baribo continues to lead the chase for the Golden Boot with 13 goals, the Union spread the wealth last month with 11 different goal scorers.

Philadelphia, which already has surpassed last season's win total of nine, isn't jumping ahead of itself despite a good run.

"You can be really happy, but it's matchday 17, not 34," Carnell said during the break.

A club that may have been delighted with the midseason break is Charlotte FC.

Charlotte (8-8-1, 25 points), which still holds one of the final playoff positions in the East, had lost six of seven league matches before entering the international break with a 2-0 victory at Toronto on May 31.

That victory was just Charlotte's second road win of the season in what is a current five-match road trip stretched out over a month.

Charlotte coach Dean Smith had some thoughts on the league's calendar after a busy May turned into a quiet June.

"Really good planning, isn't it?" Smith told reporters on Thursday. "That we can play nine games in one month and then three in the next. It's a welcome break for us, but the scheduling has got to be a little bit better for me and more spread out."

Charlotte will try to improve on a 2-6-1 road mark without two important pieces in leading scorer Patrick Agyemang (six goals) and first choice center back Tim Ream. Both players are on the U.S. Gold Cup roster.

Philadelphia will be missing defender Nathan Harriel (US), goalkeeper Andre Blake (Jamaica) and midfielder Danley Jean Jacques (Haiti) due to Gold Cup call-ups.

--Field Level Media