Philadelphia Union: Cory Burke impactful despite historically bad performance

Despite a historically poor performance, Cory Burke was integral to the Philadelphia Union’s victory over the Chicago Fire. His numbers do not tell the whole story.

In a 3-1 home victory over the Chicago Fire, Philadelphia Union forward Cory Burke managed to do the unimaginable. He hassled Chicago’s back line, constantly threatened in behind, got on the end of a cross to extend the Union’s lead, and drew the penalty that put the result out of reach in the 87th minute, all while having a game that he would otherwise like to forget.

Burke managed to complete just four passes over the course of the 90 minutes according to WhoScored.com. While that is woeful in and of itself, the Jamaican attempted just two passes in the first half, missing the mark on both occasions.

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His lack of opportunity in the opening 45 minutes can be credited to Chicago’s willingness to defend. In a game that Chicago could have surpassed Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference standings and put themselves just two points shy of the sixth and final playoff spot, Veljko Paunovic rolled out a back five that looked like more like six with Bastian Schweinsteiger cleaning things up behind Kevin Ellis, Brandon Vincent, and Johan Kappelhof.

Whether Paunovic was planning for the hold-up play of C.J. Sapong, who often acts as the fulcrum of the attack when he gets the run out as the number nine, is unclear, but, early on, the Fire made an obvious attempt to stop the service into Burke, with Ellis often playing in front of the Union center forward and Schweinsteiger giving depth to support.

However, with Ilsinho’s moment of brilliance in the 44th minute, Chicago was forced to come out of its defensive posture and chase the game in the second half.

For the entirety of the second half, Schweinsteiger’s role changed drastically, essentially playing as the number 10 underneath Alan Gordon and Aleksandar Katai. The change in shape gave Burke more space to run into and less time on the ball for Chicago to play out from the back.

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Despite the lack of success he had up to this point on the ball, Burke continued to apply pressure relentlessly, chasing down loose balls, winning back possession, and stretching Chicago with his willingness to run in behind. In the 51st minute, his activity paid off. After the Union elected to reset from a corner and build from the back, Borek Dockal picked out Burke at the far post who was able to head home the Union’s second goal.

Chicago was then able to sustain useful possession in Philadelphia’s half and produced the quality of chance they needed when Gordon was able to slot it past Andre Blake routinely. With pressure mounting, though, Burke, at the other end, continued to track down any ball that he could.

His work rate once again paid dividends in the 87th minute. Chicago carelessly gave away possession in their defensive third and, with Burke lurking nearby, Marcus Epps simply headed the ball in his direction. Burke’s pace got him into the penalty area where he was dragged down by Vincent. Dockal, who already had the assist on both previous goals, easily tucked his penalty into the bottom left corner to seal both team’s fate.

It was always going to be a big result if either team managed three points, but nobody could have predicted that Burke would play such a pivotal role in an otherwise abysmal performance. In 90 minutes of action, Burke only managed to attempt 11 passes. Seven of them went astray. That’s 36% of his passes completed, and he failed to complete his first pass until after the break.

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With C.J. Sapong watching from the bench, having such a poor night on the ball could have easily changed the way his performance was viewed. Surely, if Jim Curtin called Sapong’s number, the Union would have gotten more production in terms of possession. To Curtin’s credit, however, he stuck to his gut, and his Philadelphia Union team reaped the benefits.