Union hope to end recent road woes in D.C.
CHESTER >> Taken in isolation, the results have looked like blips on the radar of an otherwise smooth-sailing season. But the larger trend is starting to get worrisome for the Philadelphia Union.
It remains a first-place team. But a 4-4-4 stretch through its last 12 games means it isn’t playing like one. Sunday’s trip to D.C. United looks like a proving ground — national television, teams entering first and third in the Eastern Conference. It’s a chance for the Union (11-7-6, 39 points) to get back to playing like a viable contestant for the East’s top spot.
“It’s a difficult stretch,” manager Jim Curtin said Wednesday. “We knew all along this would be a tough stretch for us, and we haven’t taken the amount of points we wanted to, but still sitting in first place at the all-star break. But as everyone can see, the Eastern Conference is very tight, every point is going to matter down the stretch here.”
The D.C. tilt will be the seventh road game in the last nine for the Union. That means home games are on the horizon, with four of the next five at Talen Energy Stadium, the only road trip in that span a winnable voyage to struggling Chicago.
Within that context, the Union
UNION VS. DC UNITED
Union (11-7-6, first in the Eastern Conference) vs. DC United (9-6-9, third in the Eastern Conference) Washington, D.C.; Sunday, 7:30 p.m. BOTTOM LINE: DC United faces Eastern Conference-leader Union. DC United is 6-2-8 against Eastern Conference opponents. DC United is 2-0-1 when it scores two goals. The Union are 9-3-3 in Eastern Conference games. Philadelphia has 27 of its 41 goals in the second half of games. The matchup Sunday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Wayne Rooney leads DC United with six assists. Luciano Acosta has two goals over the last 10 games for DC United. Kacper
are holding their own in a league where road points are hard to come by. They’re third in the East and fifth in MLS with 15 road points gained, one shy of both D.C. and New York City FC.
But the more pressing matter is that the Union haven’t looked like a first-place team in recent trips — not when capitulating four goals at Real Salt Lake, not in falling apart in the second half against NYC, not in getting run over by Montreal’s counterattack in a 4-0 pounding last week.
Sunday is the first league meeting between the teams this season, with the Union dropping a 2-1 decision after extra time in the U.S. Open Cup in June at Audi Field. Anthony Fontana scored in the 113th minute to get the Union the lead, Przybylko has nine goals and one assist for the Union. Ilsinho has two goals over the past 10 games for the Union.
LAST 10 GAMES: DC United: 2-2-6, averaging 1.3 goals, 0.9 assists, 3.7 shots on goal and 4.4 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.3 goals per game. Union: 4-3-3, averaging 1.7 goals, 1.1 assists, 4.6 shots on goal and 6.6 corner kicks per game while allowing 2.1 goals per game.
NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: DC United: Oniel Fisher (injured).
Union: Matt Freese (injured), Oliver Mbaizo (injured), Sergio Santos (injured), Michee Ngalina (injured), Kai Wagner, Jamiro Monteiro (injured). but a concession off a corner kick and a Wayne Rooney PK in the
120th sent the Union out. They won their inaugural visit to Audi Field last Aug. 29, a midweek
2-0 victory that capped a four-game winning streak that ultimately propelled the Union to the playoffs.
This meeting will look slightly different. D.C. (9-6-9, 36 points) is without defensive midfielder Russell Canouse thanks to a collapsed lung, further thinning a position of weakness for the club. The Union could get reinforcements with Jamiro Monteiro (ankle) listed as questionable after four games out. With Fafa Picault (hamstring) also questionable, Andrew Wooten could be in line for his first start.
The Union’s biggest issue in recent weeks, particularly consecutive 4-0 drubbings away from home, is allowing opponents to dictate terms. That’s been the focus this week for Curtin, ensuring that D.C. doesn’t do what Montreal did last week: Ceding pointless possession so that it could hit at will on the counterattack. Particularly with talents the caliber of Luciano Acosta and Rooney keying D.C., the Union need to keep the game compact and under control lest the class of those attackers overwhelm them.
“It’s always a difficult game to play them,” Curtin said. “We don’t want to allow the game to get too wide open because that’s when Acosta can really do some damage. He and Rooney look for each other and feed off each other, so we’ll have to be very aware of where they are on the field at all times and try to play our game, which is us remaining compact, being difficult to play through in moments, playing forward at the right time, keeping possession. We need to kind of control the tempo, but also being a little more decisive on the counter and on the break. Getting back to us has been the message all week.”
That may entail some change at the back. Curtin offered a fullthroated defense of Ray Gaddis, who has struggled. But Kai Wagner returns from suspension and will slot back in at left back. Mark McKenzie, who hasn’t started yet this season due to a combination of injuries, international duty and others’ form, wasn’t with Bethlehem for its game Thursday, an indication he could be in the Union 18.
Either way, the Union have plenty of things to clean up. And time to do that this season is dwindling quicker than anyone may realize.
“We stressed to the group that we have 900 minutes left in the regular season,” Curtin said. “Every minute now has to be played at the intensity of the postseason.”