The Union take down NYCFC at Subaru Park

The Philadelphia Union entered the match on a high coming in off a 2 – 0 beating of Nashville, after dropping their two previous matches to LA (3-1) and ATL (0-2). The lineups show that NYCFC is going without Stephen Turnbull or Segal in the starting lineup despite their newfound success that has saved Nick Cushing’s job.

The man says he is sick of losses & ties, yet nothing has changed when it comes to his starting XI. It’s one thing to say you’re sick of answering questions about what went wrong, why you continue to lose and actually doing something about it. Look Nick was given a dreadfully young team only the NY Red Bulls are younger than them. However, banging your head against the wall over and over is not a sane move by any means. Especially when you want a different result.

Now they face a potent Philly side who can score in large batches at any time. This match is huge for NYCFC who needs wins now that Messi and his former Barca mates have arrived in town. The chance to widen the gap ends tonight, If NYCFC can’t find success tonight their road to the playoffs will be troubled waters with no life-saving devices on site.

It usually would be a rivalry match when these two meets, however, this season sees Philly in the top 3 in the Eastern Conference and in 4th for the Supporters Shield. This year New York is nowhere near the top and also out of the playoffs as of tonight.

The first 10′ of play has been back-and-forth soccer so far with no one taking a big leap yet forward.

Curtin says his side needs to improve to keep up with Messi and his former teammates. However, the front office has been quiet in bringing the pieces needed to Philadelphia and you have to wonder why. Especially with Curtin locked up under his new contract extension.

In the 25′ Martinez opens the scoring, going just inside the near post off the cross from the right side of the pitch. The cross was deflected by one of the NY defenders, so no assist is credited on the goal. For Martinez, that is just his second goal of the season and the second goal of his career.

Philadelphia has now taken over the match completely dominating in possession and pushing NYCFC backwards since the goal. Things are looking bad for the boys in blue from New York City. The Union is trapping every NYC player who touches the ball with 3 high-pressure and just causing turnovers at will.

The 4th official indicates a minimum of 3′ will be added to the first half, for NY they hope to get to the locker room only down a goal, as Philly continues to knock on the door for another before the half ends. That’s the whistle and at the end of the first half, the Union will go into halftime up 1 – 0 off Martinez’s goal in the 25′. For NY they will want that goal back as it was their own player who assisted the goal for the Union.

Nick Cushing’s decides he has seen enough from his starting eleven in the 57′ and goes to the bench, he brings on a rare 3 subs at the same time. Sands for Morales, Martins for Haak, and A. Jasson for R. Ledezma.

We’re 65′ into the match and so far, none of the substitutes have made an impact yet on the match. Two minutes later Parks splits the defense of the Union and plays the ball right to a wide-open Rodriguez who airmails the opportunity to the river.

In the 70′ Pellegrini doesn’t run onto the pass properly & turns it over. Another costly mistake by the boys in blue in the final third.

In the 76′ NYC earns a corner kick, it’s taken by Rodriguez, and nothing comes of it. A Philadelphia Union player is down after a wild uncontrolled jump by one of the NYC players right into the Union player’s head. VAR will surely take a look at the play to see if a red card is warranted. They looked and determined it wasn’t enough for a red card to be shown, the center says it was accidental when talking to one of the Union players.

In the 81′ the Union found that next goal they were pushing for when Donovan takes advantage of a bad play by Gray for NYC. Donovan just walks the ball in pretty much for the second goal of the match. The Union now has a commanding 2 – 0 lead over the boys in blue from NY.

Nick Cushing goes to the bench again this time bringing on Pereira in the 82′. Is it too little too late for the boys from New York? The Union smells blood in the water and has been going for the kill shot since taking a 2 – 0 lead.

In the 84′ Blake is upset with his defense’s lapse in play, he makes the save to keep the shutout intact. For the first time in a long time, New York has a decent look at the goal. Parks had a golden chance on the play to bring NY within a goal, it is puzzling to figure out what he was thinking letting the ball go between his legs instead of slamming the ball into the open goal on the near post. His mistake was costly as the ball hits the post and Blake jumps on it before Parks can realize the ball didn’t go into the net.

Two minutes later New York finally finds the score sheet when Jasson finds the back of the net after his initial shot was blocked by the Union defenders. He decided to go to the 2nd post before Blake could recover. The lead is now just a goal for the Union, we stand at 2 – 1, extra time may be the hope needed for the boys from NY.

Blake makes a huge save in the 90’+5′ at the near post, his center-back clears it out for a corner kick. Blake catches the corner attempt, to secure the victory for the Union, he puts the ball back into play and the Union runs out the final two minutes of the match. Things got scary at the end for the Union, but they bent and didn’t break. The win keeps the Union in the top 3 of the Eastern Conference.