CHESTER, Pa– Put a decent amount of pressure on net against a quality opponent. Fail to finish. Make a defensive mistake. Concede goals. Suffer a disappointing loss. It’s a formula the Philadelphia Union have perfected over the years, and Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Atlanta United was more of the same.
Motivated by the challenge presented by the Supporters’ Shield leaders, the Union used the first 45 minutes to put the Five Stripes under duress, but the home side’s lack of finishing doomed the result.
“Overall, the performance was solid,” Union manager Jim Curtin said. “To get zero points is devastating. Again, a group that put a lot into the game, offensively. Defensively, you run into a front four that’s as dangerous as anyone in our league. We did our best to limit their chances over 90 minutes. I thought we pushed the tempo and created opportunities, just couldn’t score on the night.”
Fafa Picault got around Franco Escobar multiple times on the left wing, but couldn’t find a recipient for a through ball into the box. The exasperated fans in attendance at Talen Energy Stadium appreciated the first-half effort, but the frustration in the stands grew after the Union put one of their 11 shots on target.
Atlanta rarely showed its quality in the final third since Saturday marked the team’s third game in eight days, but it popped up when needed to take advantage of the Union’s defensive mistakes.
In the 57th minute, Miguel Almiron blitzed past Mark McKenzie into the left side of the box and was met by a sliding Andre Blake, who clipped the Paraguayan to cause a penalty.
MLS Golden Boot leader Josef Martinez stepped to the spot, stuttered in his buildup and rolled his attempt into the right side of the net to give the visitors a one-goal advantage.
The situation grew bleaker for the Union as the second half went on, beginning with starting forward C.J. Sapong being greeted by jeers on his way off the field, while substitute Cory Burke received a round of applause.
Sapong made 19 touches, attempted 12 passes and hit one shot, which went off target, during his 63-minute shift.
“(Sapong) held the ball up OK,” Curtin said. “He could’ve maybe started some runs a little earlier when Fafa got to the endline. Overall, an OK night for CJ, but, again, at the moment when he’s having a tough time scoring, that’s what he’s going to be judged on. That’s fair or unfair, the life of a striker, but still a guy I believe in.”
On the other hand, Burke made incisive runs through the Atlanta defense and put his first shot on target within five minutes of entering.
However, the pressure wasn’t good enough to put Brad Guzan into a ton of trouble, and Atlanta ran away with the three points behind a Hector Villalba strike in the 76th minute.
Villalba coolly finished from the right side of the box as the Union defense was left scrambling in an attempt to cover Villalba, Almiron and Martinez.
The loss kept the Union languishing beneath the red line in the Eastern Conference with 21 points. They next play a must-win match against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday at Toyota Park.
“This is frustrating, of course, because it’s not easy to create chances, especially against good teams like Atlanta,” Medunjanin said. “We had a lot of chances. But, you know, in soccer it’s important to score the goal and win games. But we didn’t do that. We need to stick together. We have a quick game on Wednesday against a rival of us in Chicago. So if you want to be in the playoffs, you need to win this game.”