Quinn Sullivan's stock continues to rise for club and country.
The Philadelphia Union homegrown midfielder netted his first goal of the year with a half-volley stunner that opened the score in Saturday's 3-0 blowout of Atlanta United at Subaru Park.
Sullivan's golazo was followed by a late assist as he reached five helpers — already more than half his total from his breakout 2024 season — through Matchday 9.
The 1g/1a performance and the 21-year-old's overall form, further boost Sullivan's case as a possible option for U.S. men's national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino ahead of this summer's Concacaf Gold Cup.
“Really happy for Quinn. There has been a lot of pressure building on him to perform and step up to the standard, and he’s done that,” Union head coach Bradley Carnell said post-match.
“I told him all week, ‘Just continue to be you and you’ll be just fine,’ so I’m happy he was able to capitalize on that today with a goal.”
Baribo back on the mark
Haitian international Danley Jean Jacques padded the lead early in the second half, while Tai Baribo came off the bench to score a third for the hosts and take the Golden Boot presented by Audi lead with his seventh goal of the season.
“I’m happy Tai got his goal,” Carnell said. “It just shows that we set the platform, we got to a moment in the game to get him on and Tai did everything for a teammate. It shows how great a teammate we have in Tai.”
Saturday's result snapped both a two-game scoreless streak and a three-game winless streak for the Union, who posted their fourth clean sheet of the season despite going down a man due to Jovan Lukic's 56th-minute red card.
“I don’t feel we’ve played badly over the last three games. I think it’s just unfortunate that we’ve come up against very good opposition,” Carnell said.
“I think that the collective effort is the headline for me tonight.”
