Philadelphia want to give Sullivan ‘freedom to express himself’

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Philadelphia Union interim head coach Ryan Richter wants to give Cavan Sullivan “the freedom to express himself” as the teenager continues to shine ahead of their clash with CF Montreal.

Sullivan scored his third MLS goal of the season last time out as the Union defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-1 to move within a point of the play-off places in the Eastern Conference.

The 16-year-old has directly contributed to four goals in his last four MLS games (two goals, two assists), playing a key role in Philadelphia’s turnaround in form since returning from the World Cup break.

Across the last five games, only Nashville SC (13) have won more points than Philadelphia (11), and Richter believes Sullivan is earning more freedom with his recent displays.

“The goal that he scored, it is what he is capable of doing,” Richter said of Sullivan’s game-changing abilities. 

“It is in these one-versus-one situations that he is different. And we want to give him the freedom to express himself.

“We want to give him the freedom to express himself and, honestly, he has gained the respect of his team-mates.

“They also give him the freedom that he can go into these moments, because he can create something out of nothing.”

Sullivan has also been tipped to make Mauricio Pochettino’s United States squad this month, but the midfielder is only concerning himself with the Union at the moment.

“I am not really focused on the whole call-up thing. But I am happy that we are winning games and that I am making a difference,” said Sullivan.

“The goals and assists are coming. I am just trying to keep this momentum.”

Cavan Sullivan is in the game  pic.twitter.com/9Ep3D3sbig

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) September 1, 2026

Montreal, who are three points behind Philadelphia in the East, fell to a humbling 7-1 defeat to Inter Miami last time out in MLS.

However, they managed to hold the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Canadian Championship semi-final.

This season, 18-year-old Pierre has scored four regular-season goals while 16-year-old Sullivan has scored three.

It is the first time any MLS team has had two players aged 18 and under score three or more goals in a single regular-season (age at time of game) since the Union, themselves, in 2010 with Danny Mwanga and Jack McInerney.

Owusu has 19 goal contributions (13 goals, six assists) in the 2026 regular season.

The last Montreal player to reach 20 goal contributions in a season was Romell Quioto in 2022; only Ignacio Piatti, Djordje Mihailovic and Marco Di Vaio have also reached the mark for the club.

MATCH PREDICTION – PHILADELPHIA UNION WIN

Philadelphia’s win against NYRB extended their unbeaten streak in MLS to seven matches (W5 D2).

The club had seven points in their 15 matches this season prior to the World Cup break, compared to 17 in seven matches since returning.

Montreal conceded seven goals to Miami, the second time the club has conceded seven goals in an MLS match. Montreal joined Sporting Kansas City (three times) and D.C. United (twice) as one of three teams to do so more than once in MLS history.

Philadelphia have scored multiple goals in each of their last eight meetings with Montreal across all competitions and in 19 of 34 all-time matches in the fixture.

Since Montreal joined MLS, the only teams with more multi-goal games against them in all competitions are Toronto FC (28) and the New England Revolution (20).

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