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CHESTER, Pa. — The Philadelphia Union suffered another frustrating loss on Saturday night to the LA Galaxy.
Saturday’s game marked the first time this season the Union lost after scoring first, and it extended their poor run of league form to five losses in seven games.
Although mistakes were made once again by the Union defense, manager Jim Curtin remained positive with the club sitting only a few points out of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
1. Galaxy’s 2nd-half adjustment befuddled Union
The Union achieved success in the first half on the left wing through Fafa Picault, who torched Tomas Hilliard-Arce in the 3-5-2 formation trotted out by Galaxy manager Sigi Schmid.
However, the adjustment made the Galaxy to start the second half by introducing Romain Alessandrini in place of Hilliard-Arce and moving David Romney inside from a wing position.
Alessandrini overwhelmed Ray Gaddis on the left wing, and because the Union were pinned back by the Galaxy attack, Picault was unable to break down any remaining deficiencies in the Galaxy defense.
“Their formation stayed the game, but they put in a player and moved Romney to the other side,” Curtin “Alessandrini is a nice piece to bring in off the bench, a really talented player. I still look at us and what we did, or maybe did not do in the second half ,and that was keep possession. We made a mistake and a turnover.”
Alessandrini made a direct impact on the contest in the 63rd minute, as he rounded Gaddis after receiving a ball on the left wing from Jonathan dos Santos.
Gaddis never recovered, which led to center back Mark McKenzie drifting over just enough for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to create space and fire the Frenchman’s pass into the back of the net.
The halftime substitute popped up again in the 82nd minute, when his corner connected with the head of Michael Ciani to finish off the contest.
Alessandrini ended the game with 47 touches, which would’ve been the fifth-best total on the Union stat sheet.
Although the Frenchman wasn’t the only player to make a difference in the second half, his presence on the left wing as a dangerous creator provided balance to the Galaxy attack and it forced the Union to try and adapt.
For whatever reason, the Union weren’t able to get back to their pressing mentality, and the Galaxy took advantage of the momentum created by their chances, which led to the 3-1 result.
2. Sapong breaks goal drought
One of the few positives to come out of the Union’s performance was C.J. Sapong breaking his goal drought in the 29th minute.
Sapong converted on his third shot on target in the contest, which was a deflection of a Borek Dockal pass that skimmed off Galaxy goalkeeper David Bingham before reaching the back of the net.
“Honestly, just luckily the right place at the right time,” Sapong said. “It came off my foot and in the goal.”
The 16-goal scorer from a year ago struggled mightily in the last 10 games to get on the end of the chances created by the players around him in the 4-2-3-1 formation.
Sapong’s three shots on goal were the most he’s recorded in a league game for the Union since May 6, 2017, when he bagged a hat-trick on four attempts on target against the New York Red Bulls.
Although the result didn’t turn out their way, the Union finally got a contribution out of Sapong, which could go a long way for the rest of the season.
“I think it was good for (Sapong) to get on the end of a cross,” Curtin said. “Good goal for him. Continues to run in hard areas and does a good job for us. I thought he showed a lot of fight during the 30 minutes to win the Open Cup game and showed some good things today again and hopefully we can ride that momentum into Houston and get some more goals.”
The Union have created scoring opportunities throughout the season, but they’ve lacked a consistent striker to get on the end of those opportunities.
If Sapong and Cory Burke are able to combine enough to find the back of the net, the Union might be in good shape moving forward.
3. Union still a step away from contending with top teams
A similar theme has emerged from the Union’s showdowns with the upper echelon of teams in MLS.
They’ve played Atlanta United, Toronto FC, LAFC and the Galaxy tight for stretches, but they’ve lacked the killer instinct to either score more goals or kill off the game through strong defense.
“I will say in the games now where I call them one-play games against these top teams we haven’t made the big play to change the game,” Curtin said. “We’ve had it made against us. That’s the Atlantas, the Torontos, the LAs. We’re a little bit short in those big key moments.”
The Union haven’t beaten a team above fourth place in either conference, and their best win is a 4-0 thumping of a disappointing Vancouver Whitecaps side.
Curtin’s men have the opportunity to reverse the trend in the coming weeks, as they embark on a three-game road swing against Houston, Portland and New England.
The Aug. 11 clash with the Revolution means the most because it’s a direct showdown in the East playoff race, but they need to test themselves against the Dynamo and Timbers to prove to themselves they’re capable of moving forward and finding a way to take charge in a clustered playoff race.