CHESTER — The Philadelphia Union entered Saturday night leading the Supporters’ Shield standings precisely because they’ve avoided letdowns like what would transpire in the next 90 minutes.
It wasn’t the Union’s best outing. And unlike other recent nights where they haven’t been sharp, there was no one to bail them out late, punished in a transition moment in second-half stoppage time, Toronto’s Deandre Kerr heading home the equalizer of a 1-1 draw.
It’s a disappointment given the relative positions in the standings, the Union (15-5-6, 51 points) with more than double the points of 12th-place Toronto (5-13-7, 22 points). It’s a downer given that the Union scored in the 4th minute via a beautiful team goal finished off by Indiana Vassilev.
But the hosts seemed to chase a game they were already leading. That allowed Toronto to settle in the second half, to accrue a 4-3 edge in shots on target and led to Kerr salvaging something from the game for the visitors when he bounced home a header off a Malik Henry cross.
“I felt that we started the game really well, rewarded ourselves with the early goal,” coach Bradley Carnell said. “And then it became a bit of a sluggish night. We were disconnected at times, and a little bit of left to grind through to get through this game.”
Credit goes to Toronto for its defensive job. They club is in the middle of an epochal transition, away from overpriced, underproducing and superannuated Italians Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne and toward Djordje Mihailovic. The American midfield maestro, acquired Thursday from Colorado for up to $9 million, supplied the switch of fields that opened up Henry for the assist on Kerr’s goal.
In Robin Fraser, TFC has a proven coach. The Reds are likely to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight season. But after allowing no fewer than 59 goals in any of the last four seasons, Fraser has stabilized that figure, at 33 in 25 matches, fifth-best in the East. They’ve allowed multiple goals in only two of their last eight.
Saturday, that meant closing down spaces on the Union assertively and effectively.
Even with goalkeeper Sean Johnson lost to concussion protocol after a midweek training-ground incident, TFC limited how much backup Luke Gavran had to do. The Union didn’t test the green goalie anywhere near enough, and TFC deserves credit for minimizing their danger.
“I think they closed down spaces pretty well,” Carnell said. “They went man-for-man in many moments, and we couldn’t find our build-up spaces. And when the ball turns over, then in defensive transition, we get caught a little bit between the lines. …
“I don’t think we were the cleanest. I think we’ve shown how we scored the goal in terms of our quick, short, sharp combination passing. I just thought we switched the ball when there were no players in that vicinity of the field. We didn’t keep it tight enough.”
The performance does differ somewhat from other recent struggles. Against Montreal and Colorado, two inferior teams that the Union managed to eventually subdue at home, they created an abundance of chances but were unable to finish until late on.
Against Toronto, the Union buried their first chance, a multi-pass buildup through midfield on the left flank before Tai Baribo turned in a pocket in midfield and sprayed a cross-field switch to Vassilev. The midfielder bombed past the outside shoulder of the opposing left back and placed his shot neatly past an onrushing Gavran for his third goal of the season.
But after that, chances didn’t cascade as in past weeks. There were misses, one skied by Bruno Damiani from the edge of the six-yard box in the 61st was particularly haunting. The Union’s momentum was dented by thinking they’d scored in the 55th via Baribo, but the goal was overturned on video review with Baribo offside on the initial free-kick delivery by Kai Wagner. Though the Union vehemently objected, it appeared to be the correct call by referee Tori Penso.
Carnell wished his team had bounced back from that disappointment quicker. But he didn’t think they took Toronto lightly.
“I don’t sense complacency,” he said. “I sense when it doesn’t work our way, we get frustrated that it doesn’t work in a certain way. And then when the game takes on an emotional content, I feel we should try — it’s a game of emotions — but try to stay as machine-like as possible. There’s all the shoving, pushing on set pieces, and there’s the time delay, and then it’s this one and it’s that one. So I think trying to stay out of the emotional context of the game, which is never easy.”
Saturday’s result shouldn’t set off panic alarms. It was an off night that still yielded a point. It only looked bad because of how much more the Union are capable of.
“I don’t think we were as good as we wanted to be in both halves. Still think we should have won the game,” Vassilev said. “I guess that’s the positive going forward, is that it’s not good, but we really weren’t at our best today and we should have won the game, which is good. But at the same time, we know we need to be better.”
It may prove costly, though. FC Cincinnati plays Sunday, and the Union could end the week out of first place. The Union travel to Cincinnati this month. Their schedule beyond that and a voyage to Vancouver is favorable, with many foes well back in a highly stratified East.
But the margins are thin. The Union have at least one U.S. Open Cup game left; three wins away from a trophy, they have to prioritize the competition, and that could come at a cost in the league.
It means that while Saturday’s draw is not a significant indication of concern, it may well be two points viewed at season’s end as the difference between winning the Shield or not.
Source: Berkshire mont
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