Summer is moving along and with the 2-0 win over the Red Bull last night the Philadelphia Union season are back on track and on a top of a very crowded top 5 in the Eastern Conferen where just five points separate the Union with 5th place Inter Miami (who have three games in hand). Maybe the Wednesday night U.S. Open Cup postponement was the jolt this team needed.

In the email today:

1. 🥤Union return home with convincing win over Red Bulls

By Quentin Hall

The Philadelphia Union returned to Subaru Park after a fragmented few weeks filled with delays, and road matches and a game cancellation.

They were welcomed home by an energetic crowd eager to enjoy a warm summer night.

That energy sparked an early surge from the Union that stayed relentless throughout the first half. Indiana Vassilev opened the scoring in the 9th minute, tapping home a corner whipped in by Kai Wagner. The ball came in with tremendous pace and curl, forcing panic at the back. Vassilev was the first to react to the loose ball, giving the Union an early lead.

Thanks to the tireless work through the spine of the team, the Union were able to smother the New York Red Bulls. That domination through the middle led to Philly’s second goal. It came off a restart that the Red Bulls were slow to react to. Their sluggish effort to reposition themselves was punished by a quick combination between Quinn Sullivan and Bruno Damiani. The Union’s record signing peeled off the shoulder of the nearest defender and calmly slotted it past former Union keeper Carlos Coronel.

The first half was completely one-sided. Danely, Lukic, Baribo,  and Damiani formed a box in the heart of the pitch that made it treacherous for the Red Bulls to play through. They were either forced to cram the ball down the middle or play it wide. When they did go wide, the work rate from Sullivan and Vassilev made life even harder.

The second half started off differently. The Red Bulls began to bypass the Union press with ease, and that spark from the first half faded. Still, the defense stayed organized and gave almost nothing away. The slower tempo continued until the 73rd minute, when Philly turned to their bench. Damiani’s hold-up play was swapped for the pace of Sal Olivas, and the right side of the field was locked down with the return of Frankie Westfield.

Olivas made an instant impact and gave the Red Bulls center backs real problems. The bruising style of Baribo and Damiani had worn them down, and Olivas took full advantage.

He got his best chance in the 89th minute when substitute Alejandro Bedoya poked a loose ball through on goal. Olivas found himself one-on-one with Coronel but couldn’t convert what would’ve been the Union’s third of the night.

Philly’s dominant display was backed up by the stat sheet. They finished with 2.38 xG and missed multiple big chances, while the Red Bulls didn’t register a single one. Union’s tight defense held NYRB to just one shot on target. A common theme under former coach, Jim Curtin, that has continued under Bradley Carnell, is the ability to win games without always being sharp in possession. That showed again tonight. Despite just 74 percent pass accuracy, Philly carved out a ton of chances and were rewarded with 2 goals.

2. 📈 The Red Bull Cure

After two straight road losses to top teams in the league, there’s perhaps no better soccer cure for the Philadelphia Union than a game against their I-95 rivals the New York Red Bulls.

Last night 2-0 win is just the latest in a rivalry that has been lopsided in the favor of the team from Chester.

A couple key stat lines from the Union’s press release following the win:

• The Union extended their regular season unbeaten run to 12 games (8-0-4) against the New York Red Bulls, marking the longest unbeaten run against a single team in club history.

• With the win, the Union are now 15 games unbeaten in all competitions against the New York Red Bulls.

The Union have two more games scheduled against the Energy Drinks with the rescheduled Open Cup rainout slated for August 13 and the away date in Harrison three days later.

3. 🚨 Social Post of the Day: Alert

4. 💧Water Cooler: Red Bull Batter

Reactions from the Nashville loss:

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• The Club World Cup concludes today in New Jersey with Chelsea taking on Paris Saint-Germain. Philadelphia Soccer Now photographer Carl Gulbish will be in the building. The game will be broadcast live on TBS and streamed on DAZN.

• West Chester United won another Keystone West Conference title with a 2-1 win over Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals last night. They’ll face New Haven United Wednesday in the East Region semifinals. The time and location of the match is TBA.

• The finale of the ECNL season is underway in Richmond with the Regional League finals on now, following by the ECNL Finals. Delaware FC is in the U15 boys Regional League national final tomorrow while later this week FC Delco 2012 girls, Penn Fusion 2009 girls and LVU Rush 2009 boys will compete for a national title.

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