Philadelphia Union dominate, manage just a tie on Sunday
One of the surprises of this past weekend in MLS was the Philadelphia Union settling for a 1-1 home result against the Chicago Fire. The Union, consistently in the top half of the Eastern Conference this season, dominated the lowly Fire on Sunday night but still managed just a tie.
The Union controlled the match despite falling behind just 10 minutes into the match via Przemyslaw Frankowski’s second goal of the season. They held the edge in possession (55.8 percent), shots (25:4) and shots on goal (5:2) and the Union played a man up for the final 57 minutes of the match. Yet this offensive onslaught yielded just a single goal when Kai Wagner equalized in the 36th minute.
“Obviously a very quick turnaround from Sunday, a chance now to improve in that that final third, I think we’d all agree we created enough chances on Sunday night against Chicago,” Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin said on Wednesday.
“But now it becomes about executing and finishing off those chances. I have a strong belief in this group that again, once that that goal does go in, I think the floodgates can open for us. But oftentimes, it’s a situation where you create your own luck in and will continue to push in the right way against a good Toronto squad that’s, you know, 2-0-3 in their last games.”
Now with the aforementioned “quick turnaround, the Union will be looking to bounce back from a dominating offensive performance with another home match. Toronto FC, slightly improved over the last month of league action, travels to Subaru Park for a match that is important to both sides.
Philadelphia Union looking ahead to Wednesday
With the draw, the Philadelphia Union dropped to sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 6-4-7 record (25 points). Toronto FC has steadily climbed up the conference table and sit at 3-8-5 (14 points), just four points behind the New York Red Bulls in ninth place.
The playoffs are now within striking distance for the Canadian side.
“So again, at home in Subaru Park, we want to try to play the game on our terms, to push the tempo of the game and finish off our transitions that we’re able to create,” Curtin said. “So, looking forward to the match. I know it’ll be a difficult test against a good team but I know our group will have a good response after only taking the one point from Chicago.”