'Deflating' might be a good word to describe this one.

The Philadelphia Union followed up their sharpest performance of the season with a rather dull showing on Saturday night, shipping three goals on home soil while also looking stagnant on the attacking end.

The 3-1 scoreline is unflattering, but it didn't necessarily feel like a lopsided loss.

Philly outshot Toronto and held a slight advantage in possession. The set piece opportunities were there. The looks came. The Union just didn't take their chances.

Toronto, on the other hand, acutely punished several first-half Union mistakes. The star power of Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore eclipsed Philadelphia's overachieving, blue-collar squad. Center back Ken Tribbett was pulled at intermission for the second time this season.

Head coach Jim Curtin told reporters post-game that he didn't want to “change his thinking” after the previous week's 4-0 road win. He's not wrong in that line of thinking. Tribbett played a solid, mistake-free game in Foxborough, but he struggled in this one, losing his mark on a set piece and getting turned by Altidore in a one-versus-one situation.

In a way, everything seemed a bit “off” in this match. The defense was unsteady, the offense was toothless, and the refereeing felt a bit lopsided.

What went wrong?

There was a series of plays right around the 18-minute mark that really exhibited first-half Union defensive struggles.

The first play is the Giovinco goal, where the reigning MVP gets by Tribbett in the left channel and hits a low show off both posts and in.

It's true that Tribbett gets beat for pace, but most center backs are going to struggle in this situation. To me, the bigger concern is the midfield gap and the time and space afforded to Marco Delgado for a brilliant, first-time splitting ball.

The play actually starts with a goalkeeper punt and Altidore does well to win the aerial challenge against Richie Marquez. With three Toronto players in advanced areas, Tribbett is sinking with Warren Creavalle to address Giovinco and Jonathan Osorio. Tribbett takes a one step toward Osorio and allows Giovinco behind when Delgado hits the layoff without taking a touch.

It's really a superb piece of transitional play in which Toronto quickly gets numbers forward and carves out that space in the channel. The entire Union backline shouldn't be beaten by one pass.

About a minute after that play, Philly gets beat on a similar sequence.

In this one, Toronto does not have numbers forward, but they end up with the same midfield space (blue triangle) when Creavalle loses a tackle on Osorio. The ball pops out to Altidore, who pushes a perfect pass into the same channel for Giovinco to run onto.

The themes are the same; this is another back-shoulder channel run where Tribbett can't turn and accelerate to keep up with Giovinco. Marquez is three yards back but can't close the angle. Alejandro Bedoya, Keegan Rosenberry, and Fabinho aren't even really in the play.

It feels like the line is a bit high, but that's how they've played for most of the year. Tribbett is inside the opposing half when the play starts, but he's still two yards off of Giovinco. That's sort of a no-man's land for a larger center back that doesn't have top-end foot speed.

On the second goal, Tribbett is simply picked on a 2v2 situation inside the box.

It's easy enough to spot. Look for the cluster of Tribbett, Chris Pontius, Drew Moor, and Jonathan Osorio.

Osorio simply turns and puts a light shoulder into Tribbett, and Moor rubs off the screen to find himself with a free header from close range. Tribbett makes a tame effort to fight through the pick and is hardly in the play when Moor doubles the lead.

On the third goal, it's Osorio again with a bit of craftiness to make the play happen.

It starts with Tribbett in a 1v1 situation against Altidore, and he looks to be in good position to begin the play. There's an entry pass from Will Johnson, and Altidore bodies Tribbett, who has him closed down about seven yards outside the box. For whatever reason, Tribbett seems to slide to Altidore's outside shoulder, allowing him to turn inside towards the goal on his stronger foot.

As Altidore cuts inside, Osorio makes a really nifty diagonal in the opposite direction, dragging Marquez away. As Bedoya tries to recover and put a foot in, Altidore muscles through and pokes the ball just inside the far post.

Grades

Starting XI: Blake; Fabinho, Marquez, Tribbett, Rosenberry; Creavalle, Bedoya; Ilsinho, Barnetta, Pontius; Sapong

C.J. Sapong: C+

Sapong didn't really get a good look on goal until the second half flick and drive that Alex Bono did well to block.

For as well as C.J. has played this season, you look at Altidore and see a similar player with a much more effective all-around game.

Ilsinho: C

Quiet start to the game, then he popped up with a through ball that Sapong almost latched onto.

He started the second half by creating a scoring chance that Pontius couldn't stuff home.

There were long stretches of time where it didn't feel like Ilsinho was part of the game, and even with a couple of bright moments he still finished with zero shots and zero key passes.

Tranquillo Barnetta: B

Excellent ball for the equalizing goal. It was his drawn foul that earned the free kick in the first place.

Yes, he takes a beating during these games, but that continually results in dangerous dead ball opportunities for his team.

He finished with a shot on goal and three key passes, but just couldn't do as much to influence the result as he usually does.

Chris Pontius: B-

He probably should have scored on the headed effort that went over the crossbar in the 71st minute.

Pontius finished the game with more shot attempts than Ilsinho, Barnetta, and Sapong, combined.

Alejandro Bedoya: B

He added a bit more going forward in this game and fired off two shots from outside the box.

Defensively, he was again sharp and didn't show any problems getting stuck in on hard tackles in all areas of the field.

In the second half, with the Union chasing the game, he actually slid back to the number six spot and continued to do some hard-nosed defensive work as Toronto rode out the win. He's not a starting candidate in that spot, but it's nice to know that Philly can flip him back there in specific situations to get another attacker on the field.

Bedoya was the least of Philly's concerns tonight.

Warren Creavalle: C

He started by winning a tackle and posting an interception to keep Toronto unbalanced in the early going. Then, he gave up a foul on Giovinco in a bad spot and had to be bailed out by a diving Andre Blake save.

There wasn't much going on before he was pulled for Alberg in the second half.

Fabinho: B-

He got plenty of opportunities up the flank but just couldn't put his crosses into the danger area. Most of his efforts were knocked down at the near post and he finished the game just one for nine on crossing accuracy.

Defensively, he didn't have any major issues.

Richie Marquez: B-

It's hard to say if he should have done better on any of the Toronto goals.

On the first one, he's upfield with Altidore on the initial aerial duel.

On the second one, Tribbett gets picked on a set piece.

And on the third goal, he slides to cover Osorio's run. Maybe Marquez can drop his man and react faster, but Tribbett is the main culprit there.

Ken Tribbett: D-

Tribbett rode the roller coaster in this game.

He just didn't have the speed to catch Giovinco on the opening goal. Again, it's a brilliant first-time pass from Marco Delgado under no midfield pressure.

He got picked on the second goal and didn't fight through it.

On the third goal, he took the wrong shoulder and got muscled out of position.

His best contribution was obviously the equalizing goal, which was well-taken.

Keegan Rosenberry: A-

Rosenberry might have been the best Union player on the field.

He started nicely with an interception that resulted in a short counter and half-chance on the other end.

He then should have had an assist on Pontius' 71st-minute header over the bar.

Rosenberry was smart with his distribution and patience in this game and put in three key passes to complement his five interceptions, two clearances, one block, and six recoveries. He went 64 for 71 on passing attempts.

Andre Blake: B

Big save on Giovinco in the early going, followed by a strong punch on the ensuing corner.

He had a spill on a low cross about five minutes later but did well to recover and smother.

I don't think there's much he could have done on the three goals. Giovinco hit his shot off both posts and Altidore's goal snuck just inside the woodwork. The second goal was a free header from short range.

Substitutes

45' Josh Yaro: B

It's apples to oranges when comparing Yaro and Tribbett in this game. Toronto was content to sit on the 3-1 lead and didn't throw a ton of numbers forward in the second half.

His best moment was probably the quick recovery to beat Tosaint Ricketts for speed on a 50/50 ball into the channel.

Going forward, I don't see why Curtin can't rotate Yaro and Tribbett based on matchups. These guys are essentially both rookies who have different skill sets for different situations.

62' Roland Alberg: C

He immediately had a great scoring chance but skied his first effort over the bar.

From there, he drifted in and out of the game and just couldn't get any meaningful time on the ball.

74' Fabian Herbers: C

I'm not a fan of Herbers playing wide right.

Referee: Mark Geiger: C-

No card for Altidore after two fouls in which he didn't even attempt to play the ball.

The whistle leading to the second Toronto goal was equally questionable.

There was another soft call against Marquez to start the second half. The resulting dead ball came off the crossbar.

I didn't think the foul on Barnetta that resulted in the yellow card was necessarily the wrong call. Moor did have a bit of the jersey, but the ref is usually giving that call to the defender on a 50/50 tug in that area.

The yellow card to Yaro for his first foul was goofy.

Overall, Geiger showed his typical inconsistency in this game, but he's not the reason Philly lost.