A mini-slump did not prevent the Philadelphia Union from firmly establishing their position in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Coming off a win over Nashville SC, the Union will attempt to reach the All-Star break with another three points Saturday night when they host struggling New York City Football Club in the second match of the season between the clubs.
Philadelphia (11-7-4, 37 points) stands fourth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Nashville and one ahead of Columbus. Since their nine-match unbeaten streak (7-0-2) from April 15 through June 3, the Union are 2-3-1 in their past six.
On Wednesday, the Union stopped their second losing streak of the year by earning a 2-0 win at Nashville. With Philadelphia coming off two-goal road losses to Atlanta and the Los Angeles Galaxy, Daniel Gazdag scored on penalty kicks in the 40th and 84th minutes.
“An ugly three points in the month of July does not get remembered at the end of the year at all,” Philadelphia coach Jim Curtin said. “So, a big night for us, and a big three points to stop that two-game losing skid on the road.”
New York took a 3-1 home loss to Philadelphia May 27 when it allowed three goals in a span of eight minutes bridging the first and second halves.
Since then, NYCFC (5-7-11, 26 points) is 1-1-7 over their past nine matches, giving them an eight-match unbeaten streak (1-0-7). New York’s lone win was a 1-0 victory over CF Montreal on July 1 and the club is coming off consecutive 1-1 draws.
After getting the tying goal in the 81st minute on July 5 at Charlotte FC, NYCFC couldn’t score again, leaving coach Nick Cushing seeking more aggressiveness in creating scoring chances.
“The outcome of goal chances we want to be better, but if we can keep the performance level — how we dominate games and how we apply ourselves — I think the aim is to be relentless,” he said. “I think we’ve been relentless in the way that we have played. I don’t think we’ve been so ruthless.”
–Field Level Media