Seven saves from Andre Blake isn't enough as the Union fall to NYCFC

Fafa scored a homecoming goal but it wasn’t all fun and games for the Philadelphia Union in New York.

Set piece mistakes doomed the Philadelphia Union as they lost 2-1 to NYCFC. It was a pretty even game but top teams make you pay for your mistakes and that’s just what New York did. Jim Curtin summed it up perfectly after the game saying, “Overall it was a good performance that got wasted.”

The game took a while to get into a rhythm as both teams seemed pretty content countering each other in the early going. But in the 11th minute, NYCFC almost got the game going after Maxi Moralez beat the entire Philadelphia Union backline. After getting his chance, Moralez fired the ball over the net ending the threat.

The Philadelphia Union had their chances but Alexander Ring was ever-present in the midfield snuffing out everything that came his way. On the other end, Oguchi Onyewu and Jack Elliott were doing the same for the Union as the defense bent but it didn’t break.

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In the 24th minute, Ilsinho took a rip from outside the box but Sean Johnson was there to parry it away for a corner. Two minutes later, Onyewu went down after a collision with Alexander Callens. Onyewu left the field but then returned five minutes later.

The Philadelphia Union were lucky not to give up a goal in the 32nd minute as Ring hit the post. David Villa followed that up by forcing an Andre Blake save. The ball fell to Callens but he fired it over the ball to keep the score level.

In the 40th, Richie Marquez entered for Onyewu as swelling around Onyewu’s eye was beginning to impact his vision. According to Jim Curtin, it’s just swelling with Onyewu and there are no concussion symptoms meaning that he will likely be back for the next game.

After the half, NYCFC began to find their stride but the Philadelphia Union defense held strong. They also got more help from the crossbar in the 67th minute when David Villa hit the crossbar. Minutes after, things seemed to be looking up for the Union as Fafa Picault won a ball in defense starting a break. Fafa played the ball through to CJ Sapong then blazed past the NYCFC defense. Sapong was then able to play a through ball to Fafa before he had a clean finish to put the Union up 1-0 in his hometown.

A minute after the goal Josh Yaro was subbed on for Warren Crevalle to make his first appearance for the Philadelphia Union this season. With the substitution, Yaro slotted into the back line next to Richie Marquez and Jack Elliott moved into the midfield.

When asked about how it felt to be back into the fold for the Philadelphia Union Yaro said,

“It was good. it has been a long road for me coming back from injury. It’s a good feeling to step on the field again.”

Blake was forced into another double save situation as New York threw men forward and Villa and Ring got off shots. Then the floodgates opened. Maxime Chanot scored the first NYCFC goal off of a Maxi Moralez corner kick. Five minutes later after some chaos in the box, Callens drove home the winner for NYCFC.

Next: Union head to NYCFC looking for bounce back

It was a rough loss but the Union will now have 11 days to regroup before heading into US Open Cup play. It sucks, but the sky isn’t falling.

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Philadelphia Union: Seven saves from Andre Blake isn’t enough as the Union fall to NYCFC

By Chuck Booth | Jun 3, 2017

Fafa scored a homecoming goal but it wasn’t all fun and games for the Philadelphia Union in New York.