Well, that was a long time coming.

Philadelphia Union’s 2-0 road win over Montreal on Saturday means that none of us have to write that the team hasn’t won a road game in a year.

But it also provided some interesting divergences from the Union’s season-long trends beyond just, well, winning. The Union played well start to finish, and compared to most of their games this season, against Montreal the Union:

1. Attacked more frequently down the left side of the field,
2. Demonstrated wider spacing among players,
3. Crossed less, and
4. Finished their chances.

You could chalk that up to a variety of factors, but seeing as we’re sitting outside the locker room, it’s hard to say what caused it. It could be due to:

• Different personnel on the field,
• Coach’s strategy,
• A bad opponent,
• Red cards,
• Sometimes the ball just hits the net,
• A combination of these.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these points.

Two-sided game: The Union came down the left

The Union have been an extraordinarily right-sided team this year. In every game this season, they have attacked more often down the right flank than either the center or left, usually bringing over 40 percent of attacks down the right.

Some have pointed to Borek Dockal’s tendency to drift right as a key factor in this, but if so, it’s not the only one, because the team was heavily right-sided before he was starting. Some other possible factors:

• Right back Keegan Rosenberry plays a much larger role in the Union’s possession game than any Union left back.
• Right center back Jack Elliott is the Union’s best passing center back and often begins the Union’s forward passing.
• Haris Medunjanin has increasingly been splitting the center backs by dropping deep to collect the ball. With Alejandro Bedoya typically drifting right along with Dockal, that leaves unutilized space in the left center midfield.

On Saturday, the Union were much more balanced, bringing several good attacks down the left side. Both goals were created from the left.

A few things drove (or resulted from) that.

1. Ray Gaddis played his best and most confident attacking game in years — on the left side, of all places. His left-footed cross created the first goal.
2. Jack Elliott did not play, meaning the Union’s two best back line passers weren’t both on the right side.
3. Dockal got into the attacking third in the channel between the right back and right center back — i.e. on the left.
4. Cory Burke tilted toward the right side and showed more movement off and with the ball than C.J. Sapong, who has typically been a central hold-up player this year.
5. Fafa Picault stayed wide left, except when he flipped sides with Marcus Epps, and then Epps stayed wide left. His attacks toward goal often came deeper toward the endline than David Accam has typically offered.
6. Haris Medunjanin was more advanced than he has been much of this year.

And that brings us to the spacing.

Union average positions vs. Montreal. (Image: WhoScored.com)

Spacing: The Union spread out

For one of the few times this season, the Union starters’ average positions on the field looked how you would expect, based on their formation.

Against Montreal, their fullbacks advanced about the same average extent upfield, providing width and possession on both sides.

Meanwhile, Haris Medunjanin played, on average, more advanced than Alejandro Bedoya, in contrast with much of the season.

Compare that with their recent matches.

Union average positions vs. Columbus. (Image: WhoScored.com)

Union average positions vs. Toronto. (Image: WhoScored.com)

Union average positions vs. Dallas. (Image: WhoScored.com)

Union average positions vs. DC United. (Image: WhoScored.com)

Union average positions vs. Orlando. (Image: WhoScored.com)

Union average positions vs. San Jose. (Image: WhoScored.com)

Cutting down on the crosses

The Union average 17.7 crosses per game this season, which ranks them 10th in the league. Over the last few years, the Union have been a team that forces crosses when they run out of ideas, which has been often, albeit less so in the last week and a half.

On Saturday, they sent in just seven crosses, their smallest figure on the year.

Part of that was because the Union just had more ideas and opportunities elsewhere.

Another part of it was that they went down to 10 men and had no targets to latch onto a cross, so there was no point in attempting one. The team’s last cross was a successful Rosenberry cross in the 58th minute, about 30 seconds before Burke was sent off with his red card.

There’s a potential takeaway here though.

When you rely on crosses less often, they can become more effective, because the opposition doesn’t just sit back and wait on them. You pick your spots rather than treat it as a default tactic. The Union went 3 for 7 on crosses, including Gaddis’s perfect left-footed assist on Burke’s goal.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Montreal’s Jukka Raitala has no business playing left center back and was only deployed there due to injuries on what is, even when healthy, an awful back line.

Montreal’s awful back line

That brings us to a final key takeaway:

Montreal’s defense is awful.

No MLS team has surrendered as many as Montreal’s 26 goals, nearly three per game. Montreal has the league’s worst goal differential (-12). Only one team has earned more red cards than Montreal’s three, and only one has more yellows than Montreal’s 23.

Their best defender Saturday was Rod Fanni, age 36. Their second best was Daniel Lovitz, who got sent off, and who is done no favors by Ignacio Piatti’s lack of defense in front of him. Combined with the aforementioned Raitala, typically a left back, and right back Michael Petrasso, whose play has been eventful all season, it’s just a mess. Only a good defensive midfielder in Samuel Piette and a solid goalkeeper in Evan Bush keep matters from being even worse.

Also keep this in mind:

Montreal isn’t the only team in MLS being held back by a disproportionately bad back line. The Los Angeles Galaxy are loaded in midfield and attack, while their back line may not have a single MLS-quality starter. Orlando also has defensive issues that will get exposed by good teams.

Center back is a spot where the Union actually have value to offer on the trade market. Josh Yaro and Richie Marquez are both due for a change of scenery. Marquez is a proven MLS starter when healthy. If Yaro can ever stay healthy, maybe he could be one too. It’s long past time to deal one of them.

Last notes

Some final thoughts:

• Burke’s movement: Burke may be a target forward, like Sapong, but he plays the position quite differently. He sees and reacts to space differently, and he has demonstrated better skill in creating his own shot — at least in this one game. Let’s see if he gets any more starts at center forward once he returns from suspension.
• The wingers were solid: Again, maybe it was a bad opponent, but Fafa Picault looked dangerous all game, while Marcus Epps was quieter but effective, with three key passes.
• McKenzie proves his worth: Mark McKenzie had looked pretty uneven in his prior MLS showings, but he came to play on Saturday. Against a Montreal side that brought 49% of its attacks down his side, the teenager put in an excellent shift. Forget what the stats show. McKenzie didn’t need stats the way he was marking guys and closing off space, including helping Rosenberry and company shut down Piatti. Further, McKenzie was tidy with his passing, as Montreal chose to press his partner but not him. To me, he was the player of the game.
• Trusty was just as good: McKenzie’s partner in defense, Auston Trusty, was just as good, not only in defense, but with the ball. Notably, he completed three of seven long passes, which stood out largely because it contrasted with the line drive bricks he had been sending upfield most of the season.
• Montreal’s attack: Because one thing to keep in mind is that Montreal’s attack, when it clicks, is pretty good. Piatti is one of the league’s best attackers. Anthony Jackson-Hamel’s goals per minute rate ranks among the league’s top five over the course of his career. Raheem Edwards, Saphir Taider, Alejandro Silva — these are talented players just waiting to click, and the Union’s solid defending prevented that.
• Sometimes, the ball goes in the net: In the end, if you do that more than the other guys, that’s all that matters.