Photo courtesy of The Philadelphia Union
Behind first half goals from Indiana Vassilev and Bruno Damiani, the Union extended their unbeaten streak vs. Red Bull to fifteen matches in all competitions – holding New York scoreless.
After only scoring one goal across their last three matches, notching two against a rival was enough to get Bradley Carnell’s side feeling good and back in the win column. Especially so for Bruno Damiani, who tallied his fourth of the season, and played a big influence in the attack on the night.
Not only did Philly win on the scoresheet, they won the chance creation battle as well. The Union’s 2.38 expected goals on five shots on target to NYRB’s 0.6 on one shot on frame translated in the eye test.
Outside of the early minutes, New York struggled to find space behind Jakob Glesnes and Olwethu Makhanya. The center-back duo did well to put out fires as they arose, with the Union’s press ahead of them forcing the Red Bulls into countless errors.
The Union’s first goal came in the ninth minute, when a scramble in the box off a corner fell to the feet of Vassilev who made no mistake and fired home his third in all competitions.
Damiani’s goal came fifteen minutes later after some good interplay, where he played a role in the build up, and finished off a Quinn Sullivan through ball adroitly.
The second half, the Union sat deeper and picked and chose their opportunities to seek out an attack off of Red Bull mistakes. Sal Olivas came on late and had a breakaway chance to extend the lead to three, however, he couldn’t beat NYRB keeper Carlos Coronel.
Two-nil, three points, and all eyes on the Hell is Real Derby to see if the Union can sneak back into first place in the Eastern Conference with a Columbus victory. Next up, CF Montreal come to town for a Wednesday night match at Subaru Park.
GOALS/ASSISTS
PHI – Indiana Vassilev (unassisted) 9’
PHI – Bruno Damiani (Q. Sullivan, Baribo) 24’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
PHI – Nathan Harriel (caution) 62’
PHI – Jovan Lukic (caution) 62’
RBNY – Omar Valencia (caution) 83’
RBNY – Dennis Gjengaar (caution ) 90+4’
Lineups
Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake; Nathan Harriel (Chris Donovan 90+4), Jakob Glesnes, Olwethu Makhanya, Kai Wagner, Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukic, Quinn Sullivan (Frankie Westfield 73’) , Indiana Vassilev (Alejandro Bedoya 85’), Tai Baribo (Jeremy Rafanello 85’), Bruno Damiani (Sal Olivas 73’).
Substitutes not used: Andrew Rick; Olivier Mbaizo, Ben Bender, Cavan Sullivan.
New York Red Bulls: Carlos Coronel; Noah Eile (Omar Valencia 45’), Alexander Hack, Sean Nealis, Peter Stroud (Julian Hall 73’), Daniel Edelman (Ronald Donkor 45’), Kyle Duncan (Dennis Gjengaar 86’), Mohammed Sofo, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Wikelman Carmona (Wiktor Bogacz 86’), Emil Forsberg.
Substitutes not used:; Dylan Nealis; AnthonyMarcucci, Nehuen Benedetti, Tim Parker.
Nice win although would still like to see the team work more in sync with each other. Glesnes was back to his 2022 defensive capabilities.
Workman-like performance tonight by the Union. They were the better team, and the result never seemed in doubt. This is what a top team should do against a lesser team. The midfield and defense suffocated the Pick Cows all night. And I don’t remember the last time I saw so many effective, beautiful one-touch passes by the Union in all three sections of the field.
Perfect weather to watch a comfortable game. Great job to the men in blue.
Missed this game while on vacation but a clean sheet with Bruno and Indy sounds beyond what I’d asked for.
Now let’s stay on the 3 points train!
Absolute asphyxiation. That’s the only word to use to describe what the U did to the Red Bulls tonight. I can’t believe they even had 0.6xG — that seems like some kind of error.
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The whole defensive unit and midfield were so effective that Blake was probably bored. And Damiani’s finish was pure class. Up until now he led the league in underperforming his xG, but unless you’ve been watching closely, you won’t realize that a lot of that is because of some bad luck in the form of stellar goalkeeping. The guy has had at least 3 sure goals saved. He’s liable to turn it on for us, either late this season or early next.
I think most of the .6 came on the one shot from just outside the 6 yard box blocked by Makhanya.
Looks like Sal took some notes on how Donovan gets playing time and then did it better and faster last night.
Red bull’s only SOT came in stoppage time.
I think the difference between Donovan and some of the younger kids (Olivas, Davis III, Anderson) is that the coach has confidence that Donovan can run around and press for 60+ minutes as a starter when necessary, even if he won’t be as effective on offense whereas the kids are still working on being able to go as long. So when the team was shorthanded and/or in the heavy schedule of May, Donovan can provide relief to the starters for a longer period of time. By next season I would expect things to be different.
If the Union need Donovan to run around and press for 60+ minutes as a starter, they are in trouble. Yes, I know – injuries. But please. Donovan is not an MLS quality starter. Perhaps Olivas and the other youngsters are not either. But let’s find out.
My guess is that when Carnell thinks that when Olivas and Davis are ready to go that long, they will start getting the nod ahead of Donovan. Remember, though that they are 6 years younger and have a lot more time for growth.
Our friends who, used to sit next to us, and are in Colorado commented that at the half Dre had only 5 or 6 touches. The defense and midfield were keeping the Cows out of the danger area for sure!!
Solid job. Got the early goals and protected the lead. No injuries or reds. Three points at home against RB as expected by comparative records, and we’re back in first place. They handled the task. Can’t argue with that.
Here is the view from Section 105:
1) On a warm but pleasant night, the stadium was about 80% full for this rivalry game. The visitors section was not very full, and after seeing NYRB play in person, I could see why.
2) To be literal for a moment, the U pressed the Pink Cows flat. The Union came out with attitude and a high line, and NYRB responded by turning the ball over multiple times in their own end. When they didn’t turn the ball over, the Union were mostly effective in putting the ball out of play to allow the defense to reset. Andre Blake had an extended coffee break in the first half–too bad he didn’t have a cell phone, he could have called his wife and kids.
3) My grandson, his friend and I all agreed that Bruno Damiani was MOTM. Not only did he score a lovely goal, he came back on defense on multiple occasions to win the ball playing defense at midfield. I suspect that his Union teammates truly appreciated that effort.
4) There were moments, particularly in the first half, when the Union flashed brilliance in passing and attacking off the press. There were a few other moments when the attack sputtered, and many of those were caused by the normally-reliable Jovan Lukic’ poor touches.
5) Yes, in the second half, there were some minutes when the Union sat in a low block. Though the NYRB attack was anemic, the Union do not do well in the low block, and until stoppage time, I for one did not feel that the 2-0 lead was completely safe.
6) My 11 year-old grandson said that if he had the breakaway that Sal Olivas had, he would have converted it. Note to Sal: The goalkeeper has the best chance to save a shot at shoulder level, so either go high or go low.
7) I thought that the U started engaging in time-wasting tactics at about the 50th minute, which I thought was a bit too early with a 2-0 lead, although everything did work out.
8) Kudos to referee Marcos de Oliveira. The game had good flow and the fouls were mostly accurately called. This was a refreshing change from Alan Chapman officiated matches.
Disagree on Damiani being MOTM. For me it was Glesnes playing complete shut down ball.
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Completely agree on the job the ref did. He seemed to be in control of the game. I especially agreed with his handling of the situation where Danley was down for a couple of minutes. Since it wasn’t a head injury, he let NJ continue on their attack. Once the Union cleared it past midfield and the NJ defender had control and Danley was still down, he went ahead and blew the whistle so Danley could get treatment without disadvantaging either team (despite NJ players complaining – they still had the man advantage when Danley was off for the mandatory 3 minutes).
Rule is off for 2 minutes, not 3.
I disagree on much written here. Thought the stadium was at closer to 90 or 95% capacity. I bet the Union call it an official sell out.
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NY played poorly. Which is reflected by its mid-table position. But the Union did not play well. Average perhaps. Both teams were content to head the ball back and forth. The Union rarely had any sustained possession.
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I thought the ref was consistently bad. Yes, he was fair and called fouls both ways. But he called the weakest of fouls all night long.
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I would be hard pressed to use “brilliance” and “passing” in the same sentence to describe the Union. Their passing was mediocre at best.
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Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
One major difference last night was that the Union were able to capitalize on the man advantage for Damiani’s goal (it was right after a NJ player received treatment). A shame they couldn’t do that in much longer periods against Nashville or Dallas.
My feelings about the philosophy are well documented. The ping ponging well documented. Also have to be intellectually honest.
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The second gol the team scored last night was majestic and of the highest order.
I’ve taught my son since the beginning … one touch is the best touch of all… any thing good in the likemindedness of human footy movement almost always derives from One Touch.
Carry on.
Preach, Pachy!
Right there with ya Pachy! Hollered at the field at one point…just settle the $&@?!?@ ball! But the one touch passes have been used far more often since Carnell has had the helm. Maybe he’s asking the team to be quicker and not dilly dally with the ball? It could be. Not the prettiest of styles but at this point the team is holding a slim lead in the league and that’s something not many on this page though possible. On to the next !!
I watched a couple of thr recent union 2 games and walked away so impressed eith olivas. That + his play in mls I already think he’s better than donovan.
He should have scored that goal but he could have done worse and looked like a scared kid.
This was a “who’s your Daddy?” game. NJ looked absolutely helpless. Beautiful goal from Damiani!
It is also clear how much Quinn means to this team. Last couple games they looked flat with Nate and Quinn gone, but were flying Saturday night.