PHILADELPHIA, PA – The New York Red Bulls (8-8-6) were unable to defeat a strong club in the Philadelphia Union (13-5-4) Saturday in Philly, falling 2-0.
While stormy weather postponed the Red Bulls’ U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match Wednesday, thankfully they were able to play this time around. It was an opportunity for New York to take down a Philadelphia squad they had not beaten since September of 2019. Add that the Union had been riding a two match losing streak, New York hoped to savor their first win since May 31 vs Atlanta United.
New York lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation to essentially defend a strong Union attack ranked in the top 10 in Major League Soccer (MLS) for goals. With the likes of Tai Baribo and Bruno Damiani for Philadelphia, that was no easy task. Unfortunately for New York, the start of the match proved to be frustrating for them.
In the ninth minute of the match, the Union converted off their second corner kick to take a 1-0 lead. An initial save by Red Bulls’ goalkeeper Carlos Coronel resulted in a great rebound shot from Philadelphia’s Indiana Vassilev for the score. The early goal from the home side affected New York heavily and it didn’t stop there.
Later in the 24th minute, Damiani entered the scorebook for the Union to net the second goal of the night for them.
Even outside of goal scoring moments from Philadelphia, the Union dominated every part of the first 45 minutes against New York. They dominated possession, they out worked New York and proved to be more physical than them. More importantly, they eliminated Red Bulls’ captain Emil Forsberg from making an impact for his squad.
By taking away a vital piece of the Red Bulls squad, Philadelphia faced no problems in their defensive-third. The Red Bulls by the end of the first half had no shots at all vs the Union.
Red Bulls’ manager Sandro Schwarz spoke on his team’s first half in his post-match conference.
“First half was not good in our counter press, our reactions, everything in our basic behavior, what we need for our game to be sharp, to defend all together,” Schwarz said. “You have to support each other, and also then to coach each other, to push each other.”
From a tactical standpoint, something had to change for the Red Bulls. To start the second half, Schwarz shifted his defense to a back-four and subbed on Ronald Donkor for Daniel Edelman. New York as a result looked more lively to start the second half, registering their first couple of shots on the night.
A major opportunity for New York then arrived in the 66th minute when Wiki Carmona had the perfect chance to minimize their deficit. But a great block from Union defender Olwethu Makhanya denied that chance and New York was still scoreless as a result.
Philadelphia’s backline was too much for the Red Bulls to handle overall. When the match reached full time, New York only registered one shot on target the whole contest.
For the Union, they continue their dominance over the Red Bulls, extending their regular season unbeaten streak over them to 12 matches.
Forsberg would be asked about regrouping in their next match postgame.
“We need to win that game, simple as that.”
The Red Bulls return home to Sports Illustrated Stadium on Wednesday for the start of a two-match homestand vs the New England Revolution. Kickoff for Wednesday’s match is set for 7:30 p.m. on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
