Indy Eleven vs Philadelphia Union - 2025 U.S. Open Cup Round of 32

Summary

- Opponent: Philadelphia Union 
- Location: Subaru Park
- Attendance: 8,633
- Final Score: 1-1 D (5-4 Philadelphia after extra time)

- Starting XI: Charles-Cook, White, Ofeimu, Musa, Stanley, Foster, Murphy, Quinn (C), Rendon, Blake, Amoh

- Substitution: Williams, R. 73' (Amoh); Collier 73' (Collier); O'Brien, J. 90' (Rendon); Lindley 90' (Murphy)

- Unused: Sulte, Hogan, Kizza

Scoring Summary:
PHI - Bedoya 6' (assist Mbaizo)
IND - Amoh 48' (assist Foster)

Penalty Kicks:
1 IND - Williams, R. - Success (to right) 
1 PHI - Vassilev - Success (to right)
2 IND - Blake - Success (down the middle)
2 PHI - Baribo - Success (to the left)
3 IND - Quinn - FAIL (to the right)
3 PHI - Westfield - Success (to the left)
4 IND - Lindley - Success (to the right) 
4 PHI - Rafanello - Success (down the middle)
5 IND - Stanley - Success (to the right)
5 PHI - Lukic - Success (to the right)

- Bookings:

PHI - Vazquez 55' (Yellow)

IND - Murphy 69' (Yellow)
PHI - Makhanya 88' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 90' (Yellow)
IND - Stanley 90'+2' (Yellow)

- Referee: Matthew Corrigan

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Here's the thing. Indy wasn't going to sneak up on any MLS teams this year. A run to the semifinal last year catches everybody's attention. Philadelphia wasn't going to overlook a semifinalist, no matter what league their opponent originated. Philadelphia did still seem to think that it wasn't going to take their top players to do it based on their starting lineup. Giving a 15-year in Sullivan first-team minutes gives some indication of that. In the first half, that proved to be the correct mentality. Indy played timid and passive. No, not passive. Reactionary. From the jump, they looked like a team that was content with seeing getting the game to halftime to try and win it late. Defensively they were chasing. Offensively, they were chasing. Very few times did they ever look like the team that had a game plan, other than "let's not lose it in the first half." Something they, in essence, looked like they did when the conceded a 5th minute goal. Indy Eleven eventually succumbed to the Union 5-4 in penalty kicks, but they overcame their early mistake to make a good showing for themselves.

Much of the first half of this game reminded me of the U.S. Open Cup game last year against Sporting Kansas City. Same as last year's game, Indy came out in a bunker, providing at least on the surface more respect for their opponent than maybe necessary. In Kansas City, Indy proceeded to concede a goal within the first 15 minutes, forcing them to play from behind, just like tonight's early goal forced this version of Indy to do. Against Kansas City, the team then conceded a second goal before halftime, making it vital that they play a different style of soccer in the second half. Indy still lost last year's game, but they gave a better showing of themselves. Indy managed to make it to halftime this year still just down by the single goal, but they were playing the same style of soccer. 

Indy Goal Locations (Across All Competitions)

In this game, Indy found a goal nearly immediately coming out of the halftime break. Not surprisingly, it was the most in-form striker for Indy in Amoh. The first half and second half tactical plan seemed to be the exact same from the 2024 semifinal to the 2025 Round of 32 game. The difference was that Indy didn't concede the second goal in the first half and found an equalizer early. 

Indy's confidence increased in proportion to Philadelphia's frustration level and the game became a game where both teams looked like they wanted to win instead of one team wanting to win and the other not wanting to lose. I think it was always the plan for Indy to play the way they did, but I'm just not sure it was necessary against Philadelphia's starting lineup.

Indy started looking gassed when the game finally found its way to extra time after neither team were able to get the winning goal in regular time. Indy's effort in the second half can't be argued, but it took a lot out of them to get to the extra time. As a result, Indy began to bunker again and absorb pressure and absorb attack after attack from the Union. That bunker continued into the second half to extra time, but it certainly looked like the team was following the coach's plan.

Penalty kicks can go either way. Indy fans don't expect it to go poorly for Quinn, but getting his shot stopped by Andrew Rick proved to be the difference between the two teams. Indy had their 2025 U.S. Open Cup journey ended in the Round of 32 by the Philadelphia Union, but the team once again showed the fight that Indy fans want to see from this team. Indy have now faced 5 full-fledged MLS teams in the U.S Open Cup in their history and have taken two of them to extra time (one to penalty kicks), defeated a third, and lost to a fourth in the semifinals of the tournament. So only one win, but I think Indy fans can take solace in knowing that the club makes a good showing of itself against the MLS sides (even if those sides are sending out some of their 2nd string players).

The minutes on the starters' legs is worrisome as the team travels directly from Philadelphia to Sacramento (I was told they won't be stopping in Indy between the games) to face one of the top teams in the Western Conference, but Coach McAuley has always said that his teams will go after trophies. To beat a team like Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park requires a complete effort from all your players, and Indy's starters put in a shift, particularly after the halftime break. When it comes to trophies on the line, Coach McAuley has taken the opinion that he will play the players that he thinks give the team the best chance to win and then he'll deal with the ramifications for the league games once the game is finished. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Charles-Cook. No doubt and no other option. There's a reason Indy took it to penalty kicks, but Charles-Cook kept Indy in this game as he made 10 saves on 33 shot attempts and 11 shots on target. Teams have 11 players and Charles-Cook showed that sometimes it takes all of them to win games. Yeah, he wasn't able to get to any of the penalty kicks, but he had good reads for all of them, but the shots were just better. If not for Charles-Cook, this game doesn't get to penalty kicks. RCC is the GBGB winner.