In loss, Union miss chance but still control destiny
CHESTER >> The good news for the Philadelphia Union is that it left Sunday’s 1-0 loss against the New York Red Bulls in the same position in the Eastern Conference playoff picture as it entered, with the same control of its destiny.
The bad news is that a chance to move up the standings went begging, as the teams standing third, fourth and fifth in the East all lost.
Kaku’s penalty kick in the 69th minute made the difference for the Red Bulls. But the change is minimal for the Union (15-13-5, 50 points). A win next week in Yankee Stadium over New York City FC (53 points) will see the Union jump the Cityzens into third place on the wins tiebreaker, guaranteeing a home playoff game.
It’s only if they fail to win, as they did Sunday, that other results come into play.
“Whether you finish third, you finish sixth, the reality is you’re in a do-or-die game,” manager Jim Curtin said. “Obviously you want to host a game, you want to go to New York City and get a win and move up and keep a position where we have that home playoff game, it’s critical.”
Curtin was pleased with the Union’s effort Sunday in playofflike conditions against a team vying for the Supporters’ Shield. With the win, the Red Bulls (2178-5, 68 points) have a share of the MLS record for most wins in the post-shootout era. Only problem is they share it with Atlanta United (69 points), who beat Chicago Sunday to stay one point ahead in the Shield race.
The Union acquitted themselves well, outshooting the Red Bulls, 14-8, though only two shots found the target. The Union owned 66 percent of possession. But they couldn’t break down a sturdy Red Bulls defense that has allowed just 33 goals, fewest in the East by a sizeable margin.
“Some days, soccer goes this way and you can have a lot of the ball, you can feel like you’re in control and then a game-changing play with a bad bounce and a soft penalty kick call can change a game,” Curtin said. “We wanted to see and test ourselves against a top team in our league, a team that’s fighting for the Supporters’ Shield. I thought we were up for it, I thought we played some good soccer but just wasn’t our night in the end.”
The game pivoted in the 69th when video review intervened to award the Red Bulls a penalty. Off a corner kick, Alejandro Bedoya crashed into a crowd of players, in the process handling the ball. Play went on, with Bedoya and Cory Burke down, and Fafa Picault was shown a yellow card on the other end of the field for a foul.
At the stoppage, referee Ted Unkel went to the monitor to take a second look and saw Bedoya, his arms raised to brace for a collision with Burke, make contact with the ball.
Kaku stepped to the spot and made no mistake for his sixth goal of the season, the eighth penalty conceded on eight tries by Andre Blake.
“I braced myself because I was about to smack into Cory,” Bedoya said. “It was coming right to me and I tried to brace myself before I hit him, and the ball hit my hands. It’s an unlucky situation. It sucks to lose to them on a penalty. I thought we totally outplayed them in the first half.”
Offensive moments of consequence were few and far between for the Union. They seemed disjointed in attack, with long balls by Haris Medunjanin not finding the mark or dangerous runs by Picault petering out. Field conditions didn’t help, with Medunjanin and Bedoya remarking on the pot-holed surface afterward, nor did the stout Red Bulls defense.
“I think the first half we played a very good game,” Medunjanin said. “We had the game under control, only the goal was missing. The second half was 50/50 I think. We had the ball. but didn’t create that much. To give this kind of penalty, it’s unbelievable because in these kind of games it felt like a playoff game and then you give this kind of penalty. I think it’s very soft.”
At the other end of the pitch, Blake made three saves, none of much difficulty. The Union held Bradley Wright-Phillips, the Red Bulls’ danger man, without a shot. It’s the first time in 43 starts he’s been muted, dating back to June 24, 2017.
“The back four was great,” Curtin said. “We were just a little off in the attacking part of the field today. It’s going to happen in soccer. I still think you saw us go toe-to-toe with a top team in the league, again had a lot of possession, had the better certainly of the first half, but once they get the goal, it’s difficult to break a team down that defends as well as they do.”
That summarizes the ramifications. The Union showed they can compete with a team that has earned a bye and that it could see down the playoff road if fortunate enough to advance. They leave with that lesson but little other tangible benefits for the standings.
“The seedings are going to change on Decision Day probably five or six times during the course of the 90 minutes,” Curtin said. “It’ll be exciting. We won’t know where we’re going, whether we’re staying home until the final whistle blows. But we do control our own destiny, which is a good feeling to have. It’s a good position to be in, and I know our guys will be up for New York City, for sure.”