The Philadelphia Union traveled up I-95 this afternoon to take on their Eastern Conference rivals, the New York Red Bulls, in the first meeting of the two teams this season. Both teams were looking for a win after relatively slow starts to the season: New York was 0-2-4 coming into the game, and the Union were 1-1-4, but winless in their last five games.
From the announcement of Philly's starting XI, this game didn't look too good from the start. A seemingly makeshift back four was surprising to me - Fabinho, Aaron Wheeler, Amobi Okugo, and Ray Gaddis - with Sheanon Williams and Austin Berry on the bench. It didn't bode well with me...or during the game either. I was surprised to see Williams on the bench after such a strong outing last weekend against RSL. Wheeler has been shaky this season in the CB role and the experiment as a defender isn't working out in my opinion. I like him as a removed forward hanging around on set pieces.
This game, however, had issues beyond the starting lineup. On the field, the Union failed to control the majority of possession in the first half, and newcomer Andrew Wenger missed a sitter in the first half. The Union came out slow in the second half - giving up two goals by the 60'. Quick question - how can you leave THIERRY HENRY unmarked and wide open in the box? As long as you get a cross into him he'll punish you every time, and he did with a beautiful one touch finish.
The U started to wake up after that second goal, eventually pulling one back off of a Sebastian Le Toux PK in the 80', but by then it was too late. Vincent Nogueria looked very impressive on the ball in this game, and Maurice Edu looked impressive again as well.
The 2-1 win by New York was their first of the season and pulled them level with the Union at 7 points after 7 games this season. Not impressive for either team, really.
The Union look to bounce back Saturday at home when they face the struggling Houston Dynamo.
No comments:
Post a Comment