Philadelphia came to the Bronx with something to prove after losing to NYCFC in last year’s MLS Cup playoffs. Prove it they did. NYCFC dominated possession by nearly two thirds, outshot Philadelphia, completed eighty one percent of their passes and still lost 2-0 at home on Saturday. Philadelphia earned their first win ever at Yankee Stadium
NYC coming off a brutal travel schedule, juggling MLS with CCL duties, looked a bit tired and Philadelphia took advantage of it with Jim Curtin’s team playing more direct and allowing NYCFC to enjoy most of the ball. NYCFC would do everything but put the ball in the back of the net as the Union defense held strong.
There was almost a breakthrough early in the first half when Santi Rodriguez sprang forward and passed Andre Blake for a wide open Net. Jake Elliot took him down in the box and was issued a straight red card for the foul. The whole sequence was recalled however after VAR determined that Rodriguez had slightly handled the ball upon receiving the initial pass. pass.
Philadelphia would soon capitalize as Alejandro Bedoya punished NYCFC in the twelfth minute and Daniel Gazdag doubled the score in the thirty third. Philadelphia was effective when they had the ball and did the most with their limited possession Curtin was pleased with the result after the game.
“Is it great to get our first win here? Yes. Is it probably too long since we’ve had one, absolutely,” Curtin said. “But I thought we played today in a way that we were deserving of a win. I think there’s been other games that we maybe drew here, where we were just surviving. This one, I think we did a good job of getting our goals and still pushing for a third but also being content with keeping a clean sheet and being really difficult to play with.”
“We know this is only four games into the season, but this is a good start,” Curtin said. “And today was easily the biggest win against the best team that our league has.”
In the end, it was tired legs and sloppy touches in the final third that let NYCFC down. Some blown calls and frustrations boiled over in the sixty ninth when Andre Blake refused to give Valentin Castellanos the ball to set up a corner and Kai Wagner started shoving to protect his keeper. Both teams let their tempers flare as referee Ted Unkle stood by and watched. In the end Castellanos and Wagner were both shown cards.
Mar 19, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Philadelphia Union defender Jakob Glesnes (5) talks with New York City midfielder Valentin Castellanos (11) in front of referee Ted Unkel during the second half at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
It was a tough and hard fought game where NYCFC was not at their best in the final third. Even with their dominance in time of possession their expected goals were less that The Union’s. NYCFC coming in with 1.1 and Philadelphia with 1.8 respectively.
Ronny Deila was pressed to find the positives after the disappointing result. “I think the positive was the fight. That we never gave up and we took the game into their half. We answered at the break because the first half we were sleeping in the most important situations and today we put it in their half in the second half and that shows character when you think of all we’ve been through. Just a little bit sad we didn’t get a goal, I think if we get that we get a lot of energy but we could never open them up enough and that was not good enough. At the same time, we can play in this shape, I think it was positive. I think to see that we can be so dangerous and can press from the front it gives us more options to play in different ways in different games.”
There will be many more games to come and NYCFC can enjoy a little bit of rest before their CONCACAF Champions League Semi Final games against Seattle. Their game this coming weekend has been rescheduled to August and the international break will give them some rest for most of the players. We will see if they can regain their legs and their effectiveness in the final third for the rest of the season.
