Curtin hopes Union won’t look past NYCFC

Now that the fortunes of the clubs have diverged with the Union suddenly in the ascendancy, manager Jim Curtin remains as wary as ever of the threat NYCFC poses at PPL Park Saturday evening.

CHESTER>> When things were going poorly for the Philadelphia Union, an equally downon-its-luck New York City FC side was the only thing standing between them and bottoming out in the Eastern Conference.

Now that the fortunes of the clubs have diverged with the Union suddenly in the ascendancy, manager Jim Curtin remains as wary as ever of the threat NYCFC poses at PPL Park Saturday evening (7, TCN).

“Any time you feel good about yourself in this league, there’s a way of getting punched in the face and brought back down to earth very quickly,” Curtin said as the Union wrapped up its preparations Friday. “We’ve had a busy week, but at the same time, it could be a very good week in terms of moving up the standings.”

The Union’s first — and, through the season’s opening two months, only — win came at home against New York City FC April 11. Five days later, they scraped out a 1-1 draw at Yankee Stadium before languishing through a four-game skid.

The Union (4-8-3, 15 points) have since won three of four and are playing their best soccer of the season, and a visit from the East’s lastplace team on an 11-game winless streak (0-7-4) seems an opportunity to continue those winning ways, provided they tread carefully.

“The table doesn’t really tell the full story on them,” Curtin said. “They have a lot of weapons. They have some individuals that can beat you on their own.”

To the Union’s advantage, NYCFC (1-7-5, 8 points) has fewer of those weapons available. For the second time in three meetings, Mix Diskerud will miss out against the Union due to international duty in a U.S. friendly with the Netherlands. Khiry Shelton is reportedly doubtful, while midfielders Ned Grabavoy and Javier Calle and defenders Josh Williams and RJ Allen missed last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Houston due to injury. Per reports, Williams and Calle are likely out this week as well.

The lineup will still feature David Villa and Adam Nemec, two perpetually dangerous forwards. But they’ll attack a much different Union defense that has allowed just two goals in four games, including three clean sheets, after conceding a league-worst 21 in the first 11 matches.

Curtin, meanwhile, is optimistic about his team’s handling of a third match in eight days. The only trip in that stretch was a bus ride to Washington D.C., so he’s not as concerned about fatigue. That makes it easier to balance Curtin’s preference for game-to-game continuity with the need to replenish tired legs.

Given a handful of minor injury issues — only 16 players trained fully Friday, Curtin said — and the desire to continue their run of form ahead of two weeks without MLS play, there’s no shortage of urgency at home against a vulnerable team.

The main decision hanging over Curtin centers on his starting striker. Fer- nando Aristeguieta didn’t train with the group Friday, nursing the ankle contusion incurred in a battle with Columbus defender Emanuel Pogatetz that forced him off the pitch in the 37th minute of Wednesday’s 3-0 win. Curtin is hopeful the Argentine will be available in some capacity Saturday; if not, the game plan doesn’t change appreciably with the insertion of CJ Sapong, who’s recently played the role of super sub with aplomb, into the starting XI.

Both are adept at executing the cornerstone of the Union’s resurgence: Quicker, crisper transitions. That trait was obvious Wednesday in the goals scored by Sapong and Sebastien Le Toux, but Curtin’s praise for the team’s realization of those principles extends to how quickly they get back to defend, too.

Against a New York City team that prefers to patiently possess the ball, the Union will have to efficiently flip between offense and defense, especially to exploit a leaky defense that has shipped 17 goals and totes an MLS-worst goal differential of minus-7.