FC Cincinnati are back on the road this week, heading to Chester, PA, to take on the Philadelphia Union in a Wednesday night road test.
After an impromptu weekend off due to a weather postponement last Saturday night, The Orange and Blue come into this game fresh and ready to play. FC Cincinnati adjusted quickly to not having a match over the weekend by adding training sessions to their calendar and staying in peak form ahead of this important road test.
“We were able to have a training that we typically wouldn't with the entire group, just to have a day where we pushed them after losing the running that you get in the game,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Tuesday before the team departed for Philly. “So we got to work on a few things in preparation for Philly and then have our typical match day minus two and one training sessions. So a little bit unique, but I think the guys handled that whole situation really well…they navigated it, and we got a good training session out of it.”
The trip to Philadelphia brings FC Cincinnati up against one of the hottest teams in MLS. The Union are undefeated since returning to league play after the summer break, and have won five of those eight games in that same stretch. Since returning to action this summer, Philly have soared up the standings and are now in a playoff spot entering this match.
“The form that they're in, they're as good as any team in the league right now, with the way they're attacking, with the way they're defending, with how tough they are to play against,” Noonan said of Philadelphia. “I think there are similarities to what we were talking about before D.C. with teams that do a really good job of being compact, step into the ball…very good transition team as far as getting into their attack and commitment to run to goal, but the timing of it, the connections with the players ahead of the ball and then how they move to goal, it's very efficient.
“They're a handful, and it'll be a good challenge for us.”
FC Cincinnati hit the road this week looking to get a win away from home and start to rebuild their road record after being one of the best teams in MLS history in road matches over the last two seasons. While FCC have earned points in over half of their road trips this season, with just one win, five draws and five losses to their card in 2026, they are looking to add to the win column in a dire way.
Subaru Park has not historically been a friendly place for FC Cincinnati. With a 1-4-2 regular-season record in Chester, Pennsylvania, and that one win coming in a 2-1 victory in 2024, The Orange and Blue will be seeking to turn the tide in multiple ways.
“I didn't realize record-wise how poor it was because there've been games where I think we've been good and maybe the results don't go our way,” Noonan said Tuesday on the road record FCC own this season. “There's a lot of things this year that feel like they're out of the norm. One of them was, or is, our inability to have more success on the road. So I can't put a finger on it. I think that's been the case for a lot of things this year: the consistency with our play, and that's been on the road just like it's been at home.
“So maybe we need to talk about a road mentality more consistently,” Noonan continued. “If you're not consistently winning games, how do you do basic things well, and how do you understand how to play a game on the road? Sometimes it's not about controlling the ball. Sometimes it's just controlling different phases with how you defend and how the game can feel stable because of the connection of the group, I say that a lot. So, I think that's something we can do better to manage games on the road.”
FC Cincinnati return home for the weekend following this match, taking on Charlotte FC this Saturday at TQL Stadium before embarking on a three-game road trip that will take The Orange and Blue through Houston, Montréal and Atlanta before coming back to Cincy in October.
FC Cincinnati at Philadelphia Union – Wednesday, September 9, 2026 – 7:45 p.m. ET – Subaru Park
Stream (English/Spanish): Apple TV
Watch (English): FS1
Watch (Spanish): FOX Deportes
English Local Radio: Fox Sports 1360
Spanish Local Radio: La Mega 101.5 FM
History vs Philadelphia
With the calendar already in September, FC Cincinnati and Philadelphia Union just now meet for the first time in 2026. Wednesday marks the 18th meeting all-time in all competitions between FCC and the Union, with Philly holding a 9-5-3 advantage and a 7-4-3 lead in 14 prior MLS Regular Season matches.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
(Courtesy of *FC Cincinnati Communications*)
Unexpected Rest – Saturday presented an unexpected off-day, as FC Cincinnati’s match vs. D.C. United was postponed due to weather conditions, the first postponement/suspension of a match for FCC since the July 27, 2023 Leagues Cup match vs. Chivas Guadalajara.
Match 250 – Wednesday marks FC Cincinnati’s 250th MLS Regular Season match since joining the league ahead of the 2019 season. The Orange and Blue are 92-100-57 all-time in MLS play.
Welcome to Cincy! – FC Cincinnati made two additions to the roster with the closing of the MLS Secondary Transfer Window, adding Czech midfielder David Douděra [DOE-dyeh-rah] – who was on the Czech roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and made seven UEFA Champions League appearances last season – from Slavia Prague and Argentine defender Julián Malatini on loan from German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.
Evander’s MVP Case – Among all MLS players in 2026, Evander ranks first in: Goal Contributions (24), Assists (11) and Goals scored outside the box (6). He has scored 21 goals from outside the penalty area since 2024, which is the most in MLS over that span (2nd: Lionel Messi, 17).
Evander is also just six goals shy of matching Brandon Vazquez’s 43 goals in all competitions for FC Cincinnati for second place in club history.
Scouting Philadelphia Union (7-10-6, 27 Points, 9th in the Eastern Conference, W-W-D-D-W)
The Philadelphia Union started the year in dreadful form, but have since rebounded significantly and pushed themselves into playoff position heading into this match.
As reigning Supporters’ Shield winners, Philly got off to as slow a start as possible this season, losing their first six matches and winning just once in their first 15 games heading into the summer pause; Philadelphia sat in the basement of the Eastern Conference. But a change in head coach and some player movement over the break and into the season restart have revitalized Philly and pushed them into 9th place in the East entering this game.
The Union are undefeated since restarting the MLS season after the World Cup break this summer, earning six wins and two draws in that stretch. Interim Head Coach Ryan Richter, who was elevated to the top spot after Bradley Carnell departed the club in May, has been key to the turnaround for Philadelphia in his short time at the helm.
Richter, 37, coached within the Union system for more than eight years, first as an academy head coach and then as an assistant on the first team. He then took over the MLS NEXT Pro side, Philadelphia Union II, in 2025, leading them until his eventual appointment as first-team Head Coach.
“Ryan’s done a great job. He knows that group very well. Sometimes, something new, something fresh is good for a group, and it looks like a team playing with a lot of energy, a lot of confidence,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Tuesday. “Ryan worked his way through the academy, second team, first team, with hard work, with good ideas. I enjoyed my time working with him and collaborating. He's humble. He's got good ideas, and now he's shown that in the period of time where he's been the interim head coach, he's turned that team around. So it's nice to see that success.”
Under the new coach, Philadelphia have been playing, primarily, a 4-4-2 formation, with longtime goalkeeper Andre Blake still at the core of it between the pipes. Blake, 35, is a three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and was the steadfast starter for the Jamaican national team for over a decade.
Philly welcomed back a key player in their history, bringing defender Kai Wagner back from Birmingham City after transferring him there earlier this year. Wagner has made over 200 appearances for Philadelphia across his two stints and is known as one of the most creative and attacking fullbacks in MLS.
“Kai elevates the level of his teammates because he has an expectation of success,” Noonan said of Wagner, who he coached at Philly when he was an assistant from 2019 to 2021. “He leads with his play. He's decision making, he's very good with his decisions on the ball, but how he defends against the ball. Not many players, teams are exposing the left side of the field for them. He has a really good understanding of the game, excellent set-piece delivery, he's got a presence that demands his teammates play the game the right way and at a high level, and that's good leadership.
“There's different factors why things are turning around (in Philly), and Kai's return is, I think, a big part of that.”
Beyond that new addition, Philadelphia's resurgence is built on the aforementioned youth in its squad. Homegrown defender Neil Pierre, 18, has become a mainstay and a scoring threat with his 6 foot 7 inch frame. Cavan Sullivan, 16, is one of the world's most notable young players, having already agreed to a move to Manchester City in the Premier League. In his last seven appearances, Sullivan, a midfielder, has broken out, scoring four times and adding four assists between MLS and Leagues Cup play.
“As far as the age, I don't spend too much time on that. Are you a good player or not? Are you a player that can be trusted and relied on in big games and big moments?” Noonan said about the young players Philly uses. “(Sullivan and Pierre) they can play, and they're playing at a high level and contributing in the goal production, contributing in how they defend against the ball. So, I think with Philly specifically, and because I have an understanding from my time there of youth development. Forget the age; they have a model that shows how to have success with development.
“When those guys are stepping into the first team…they've seen the Brenndan Aaronson’s, the Mark McKenzie’s, the Austin Trustee’s, the Matt Freezes’ – they've seen these guys have success at the club, at the national team, and then with transfers. So there's an expectation and understanding how to do that, and those players, the (Cavin Sullivan)’s of the world, now step into these roles with a pretty good understanding of how to have success, and on on top of you know that windshield, if you will, Cavin has elite talent. I know we talk about young players consistently and sometimes unfairly with how you put pressure on them and how you talk about them before they've really had a stretch of success at a first team level, but you see, he's one of their most important players. Pierre has been very dominant in scoring goals, a physical presence, but yeah, it's not age. These are very talented players and reliable options for their group.”
Since returning from the summer break and the new coach took over 8 league matches ago, Philadelphia Union have scored 18 goals and have conceded just 10.
