Sitting in last place, Union ‘can’t feel sorry for ourselves,’ Bradley Carnell says

From Bradley Carnell’s point of view, two moments in a 90-minute match sank the Union in their seventh loss of the Major League Soccer season, a 2-0 road defeat to the Columbus Crew.

The first came in the fifth minute Saturday, when an unforced turnover from Philippe Ndinga turned into a Max Arfsten goal. The second came just before halftime, with Arfsten beating Ndinga down the left flank of the Union’s defense and sending in a cross that Nathan Harriel deflected in for an own goal.

“We had a lot of hope coming into today’s game,” Carnell said. “Unfortunately, two errors led to two goals, and that was pretty much the game.”

But those moments came before the halftime whistle, and the Union came nowhere close to catching up in the final 45 minutes.

With the team playing its third game in eight days, Carnell rotated his squad for the matchup.

But Carnell’s lineup still featured first-choice forwards Bruno Damiani and Milan Iloski, and Cavan Sullivan earned his third MLS start. The Union’s attack struggled and was held scoreless for the fifth time across all competitions this season.

The Union outshot the Crew, 11-7, took more corners, and finished with a better expected goals (xG) total than Columbus, but none of those advantages resulted in a goal for the visitors. Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte needed three saves to record the Crew’s second clean sheet of the season.

“I thought we dictated the second half,” Carnell said. “We had two moments out of 90 minutes, but other than that I thought we had a good game. We had moments of good quality on the ball. ... We outshot the opponent. We have a lot of things in terms of our defensive metrics going for us on the day.”

The Union performing well in advanced metrics while putting up a zero on the scoreboard has become a common theme this season. According to MLS statistics, the Union’s xG total across 10 league matches this season is 14.69, the 18th-best figure in the league. The team’s actual total is nine goals, tied with St. Louis City SC and Atlanta United for the second-lowest total in the league.

» READ MORE: Union three-game unbeaten streak is snapped in road loss to Columbus Crew

Perhaps the Union have been unlucky over the first 10 games, but as the season hurtles toward the break for the FIFA World Cup, it is becoming clear that a fix for their struggles needs to come soon.

After the loss, the Union are in last place in the Eastern Conference, earning five points in their first 10 league matches. It’s the lowest point total through the opening 10 matches of a season in club history, a mark previously held by the 2015 team that started 1-6-3.

“Being in last place [stinks] for everyone,” Carnell said. “And I don’t think anyone in that locker room has ever been in that position, besides myself.”

It’s a continuation of a remarkable fall for the Union, who started this season on a six-game losing streak after finishing on top of the MLS standings in 2025. That kind of fall is familiar to Carnell, who finished on top of the Western Conference with St. Louis City SC in 2023 and then was dismissed after going 3-7-10 in the first 20 games of the 2024 season.

“We’ll have to turn around the corner very soon,” Carnell said. “And we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. These are things that have to motivate you and not to shy away and stay away in the shadows. We have to come out in the sunlight and the spotlight, and to own it. That’s the only way to start a little bit of redemption here.”

The task of redemption does not get easier for the Union anytime soon. They will host Nashville SC at Subaru Park on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

Nashville (7-1-1, 22 points) is on top of the Eastern Conference standings and is unbeaten in its last five matches.

“We just have to keep on fighting, and not feeling sorry for ourselves,” Carnell said. “We just have to clean the wounds, and off we go again.”