One Big Warning Sign From the Last Union-NYCFC Match
Ron Soliman/The Philly Soccer Page
It is Eastern Conference Semifinals week, where the Philadelphia Union will welcome NYCFC in an important rematch from October, when the Union clinched the Supporters’ Shield, and are now staring at this same team as they continue their march to the MLS Cup.
While the game was a historic win for the team, it wasn’t as clean as the score tells. This was the first match after Quinn Sullivan’s season-ending ACL tear in D.C., which could explain in part where the issues came from with ball movement in the first half. While normally the Union are very aggressive in counter-striking at midfield, in the first half of this game, they were tentative, and NYCFC moved the ball through midfield with limited friction.
Philly did come out swinging, with 4 quality shots in the first 11 minutes, making sure that former Union keeper Matt Freese was not getting comfortable. After surviving the initial onslaught, NYCFC gained confidence, giving them a strong footing to build on for the game. They put a foot on the ball and tried to stretch the field. Alonso Martinez and Hannes Wolf kept testing the back line, and Wolf drew the first big Andre Blake save around the 20th minute, an exciting chance that Blake pawed away and used to wake up Subaru Park.
Something that was a bit of an issue that continued throughout the game was that the Union allowed NYCFC to dictate the pace. After the initial 20 minutes, the game had the feel of the Union going into a defensive posture. The game started to get nasty at midfield. Danley Jean-Jacques and Jakob Glesnes all saw yellows before halftime, reminders that this was not going to be a roll-over situation. NYCFC held more of the ball but did not do much with it, especially as the Union seemed to adjust on the fly to life without Sullivan.
The Union did have to wait for a clean moment, and it finally came in the 40th minute. Jovan Lukic slipped a pass into Mikael Uhre on the right side of the box.
The numbers tell you how hard the Union had to work after that. NYCFC finished with 61 percent possession, but Philadelphia took 15 shots to New York’s 7, with a 5–2 edge in shots on target and a 10-5 edge in corners. City had more of the ball, but the Union had solved the midfield puzzle, which was a huge part of the win for them. In the second half, NYCFC turned up the pressure, including 2 incredible shots from Wolf, but even better saves by Andre Blake to seal the hard-fought win.
This has some bearing on Sunday’s match, because while the Union won the game, they let City gain momentum after play got a little chippy in midfield. After the yellows were exchanged, it energized City’s attack, and they moved the ball fairly well. This harkens back to the first game against Chicago in the playoffs for the Union. They were cruising after getting a lead, and in the blink of an eye, the Fire came back to tie the game. While the Fire are a talented team, City is much more explosive, and it’s a safe bet that City manager Pascal Jansen is going to take notice of this and game plan accordingly. They will also study tape of those 14 minutes against Chicago to see how they can poach some strategy to make the Union appear human. City is a much better team, and if they see a moment where the Union loses intensity and focus, they will capitalize, and it could cost the Union the season.
To prevent the same thing from happening, shutting down the midfield rush is going to be paramount. In the closeout game against the Fire, you see how Bradley Carnell adjusted to the second half of game one, and kept the press on in the midfield, and it paid dividends. To have a similar result to game 2 in that series, it’s imperative that the Union press from kickoff. NYCFC was able to get momentum and confidence as the game grew last time these teams met, and with the Union having more games under their belt without Sullivan, they should be in a good position to do so.
Keeping the ball away from the box and away from Blake is going to go a long way toward advancing as well. The counter-attack in the middle is much better than it was in October, but this is something to keep in mind as the Union look to end City’s season and continue their steady march to the MLS Cup. Sunday’s game will not be a cake walk, so lock in fans. This is going to be a tense matchup, where whichever team adjusts to the last game’s chances will advance.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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