The expansion Philadelphia Union is making its first trip to Red Bull Arena today to face the first-place New York Red Bulls in the first installment of a rivalry that should be one of the best in the league.

The Red Bulls come into today's match off a 2-1 home win vs. FC Dallas, but they have looked less than impressive in their past two matches. The Union come in off a 2-1 loss to Toronto FC in a match they actually played well in (with the exception of some serious gaffes).

I will be providing commentary from Red Bull Arena today so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today's commentary is after the jump):

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FINAL– That's all for me from the match. Please feel free to share your post-match thoughts in the comments section below.

Enjoy the rest of your day and be sure to make SBI your place to discuss all of today's MLS action.

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FINAL– Red Bulls 2, Union 1. A solid performance by the home team and a bit of bad luck for the Union, which didn't play badly today.

The Red Bulls improve to 4-1 on the season, keeping their lead atop the Eastern Conference. The Union is having its growing pains, but there are signs of promise from the young squad. 

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93rd minute– Danleigh Borman with a timely intervention in the area. Final seconds.

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91st minute– GREAT pass from Stammler springs Ubiparipovic, but he can't settle it in time to beat Seitz. Red Bulls corner.

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90th minute- Three minutes of stoppage time.

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88th minute– Dane Richards has put in some impressive work since moving up top. He's one of the few guys who hasn't looked out of sorts in the final 20 minutes.

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87th minute– ANGEL with a miss in the area. He hasn't looked quite right this year. Not at his full sharpness.

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85th minute– It's interesting to see Philly use two rookies today but Red Bulls top draft pick Tony Tchani doesn't get into this match.

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83rd minute– McInerney WIDE! Great build-up from Philly results in a good scoring chance the rookie can't convert.

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82nd minute– Not sure about this lineup for New York. It's primed for Philly to take advantage of, particularly on the flanks.

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80th minute– Wow, Philly's defense almost sent Richards in on goal, actually they did, but Seitz got to it just in time. Frantic moments there from Seitz, who doesn't need any more blunders.

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78th minute– Jack McInerney is in for Jordan Harvey. We'll see a 3-4-3 the rest of the way from Philadelphia.

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77th minute– Jack McINerney is coming into the match for Philly.

Dane Richards has moved up top now. Ubiparipovic on the left wing, Seth Stammler on the right in a Red Bulls midfield of four natural central midfielders.

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75th minute– Red Bulls goal kick. Can they hold on to this lead?

We've got an attack-minded Union lineup against a defensive-minded Red Bulls lineup for the final 15.

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74th minute– Seth Stammler is coming in for Ibrahim. Union with a corner kick.

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72nd minute– Ibrahim is on the ground after having been fouled.

Today's attendance is 15,619. That's about 5,000 less than it should have been for a game like today. The Red Bulls need to step it up on the marketing front. Obviously it won't be easy getting fans to come back after last season's nightmare, but the crowds should still be bigger.

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70th minute– Mike Petke with a yellow card, the first yellow card issued today.

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69th minute– Red Bulls made two subs right after the penalty. Danleigh Borman and Sinisa Ubiparipovic are in, Nielsen and Roy Miller are out. Not sure why Miller came out.

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68th minute– Philly needs to start wearing bulletproof cleats as many times as they've shot themselves in the foot this season. Orozco can't have his arm that high in the area.

This one is far from over. With Philly's attack-minded lineup I have a feeling we'll see at least one more goal. Just not sure which team will score it.

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67th minute- GOAL RED BULLS! It's Juan Pablo Angel converting the penalty to give NY the 2-1 lead.

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66th minute– PENALTY! Handball on Union defender Michael Orozco in the penalty area.

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64th minute– Nowak has made some sharp decisions today. Now he has Mwanga up top with Moreno, and LeToux on the right flank. Zimmerman is on the left, giving us the match-up of former roommates.

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61st minute– Anybody's game now. Can New York respond?

Philly just inserted Danny Mwanga for Andrew Jacobson. Philly is going on the attack now.

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60th minute– Yes, that counts as a jinxing of the Red Bulls defense. My apologies.

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59th minute- GOAL UNION, and it's LeToux with one of his late runs into the box. Great pass from Moreno. Red Bulls 1, Union 1.

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58th minute– Union still chasing the equalizer, but not finding much luck beating New York's defense.

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57th minute– Danny Mwanga is preparing to come into this match.

Just spotted Seattle Sounders technical director Chris Henderson in the house. Could he be scouting for a trade, or just for future Sounders opponents?

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54th minute– It should be noted that Alejandro Moreno seems to be going out of his way not to go to ground. Has Peter Nowak instituted a no-diving policy.

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52nd minute– Hall with a perfect cross that Ibrahim didn't have to do much to in order to send home. And yes, Hall will be doing a diary for SBI this week.

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51st minute– GOAL RED BULLS and It's Salou Ibrahim with the header off a beautiful cross from Jeremy Hall. Red Bulls 1, Union 0.

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49th minute– Zimmerman shoots it wide.

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48th minute– Zimmerman is on the right wing, so no match-up yet against close friend and former roommate Jeremy Hall.

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46th minute– Nick Zimmerman has come in for Roger Torres. A bit of a surprising move there. Zimmerman is facing his former team for the first time since being exposed in the expansion draft.

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HALFTIME– The most disappointing aspect of today's match is the turnout. A sunny Saturday and a 4pm start should have yielded a better crowd. The Red Bulls need to start doing better or the folks in Salzburg will start asking  

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HALFTIME– Red Bulls 0, Union 0. Some good possession, nice passing and sharp defending. A few decent saves, but the finishing wasn't good enough in the first half.

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45th minute– A back-and-forth game, but no goals yet. Both defenses have played well.

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42nd minute– SAVE SEITZ!! Stops an Angel shot after Angel snuck in behind the defense.

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39th minute– There's been good action today, but this match definitely needs a goal to open things up even more.

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37th minute– Arrieta with the foul on Salou. He has his hands full with the big guy. Long free kick for NY. Who will take this shot from 40? Robinson? Nielsen?

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36th minute– Union midfield has had some good touches, but not enough consistent possession. To their credit, their passing has been better than the Red Bulls midfielders so far.

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34th minute– Philly clears the danger.

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34th minute– Red Bulls corner kick.

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30th minute– Richards starts a break, but Philly clears the danger. Red Bulls with better play these past few minutes.

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30th minute– Ibrahim's a strong forward who can hold the ball up, but his passing with his back to goal needs to be much sharper.

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28th minute– Robinson just blasted a shot of Ibrahim's head. Good build-up from NY that time.

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23rd minute– Torres is so tough to keep tabs on. The Red Bulls can't afford to give him so much time on the ball.

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22nd minute– Salinas has basically neutralized Dane Richards with his speed early on. Nice lineup move by Peter Nowak, at least early on.

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18th minute– Philly is playing a 4-4-2, with Arrieta in central defense alongside Orozco. Shea Salinas is at left back.

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17th minute– Robinson has looked solid on the ball early on. He's an overlooked addition who could have an impact for New York.

Shea Salinas has done well against Richards early on.

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16th minute– Nielsen has been quiet since his first minute run. He and Lindpere need to get more involved for New York.

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14th minute– Red Bulls with a corner earned by Richards.

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11th minute– LeToux just WIDE! Nice give-and-go with Moreno. Philly is looking dangerous in the final third as far as passing. The shooting? Not so much.

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10th minute– Union has settled down and is into this game now after a slow start.

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8th minute– Salou Ibrahim looks much better today than last week, at least early on.

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7th minute– Good showing from both teams' supporters groups, though they might want to avoid singing the same songs.

IBRAHIM JUST WIDE!!. The big forward sent in a long shot from the top of the box but it sails just wide of the left post.

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5th minute– Philly finally puts some possession together. Petke does well to stop Roger Torres.

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4th minute– SAVE COUNDOUL, stops a LaToux shot on a nice Union counterattack. Moreno fed the pass.

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3rd minute– Red Bulls on the attack early. It will be interesting to see how the three-man defense holds up today. For those who forgot, Dan Califf is suspended for this match.

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1st Minute– Nielsen wastes no time getting involved. He's a quick one for sure. 

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1st Minute– And we're off. 

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PRE-GAME– A ton of fans are outside still (having arrived a bit late myself I saw some major lines outside). Should be a good crowd today.

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PRE-GAME– Fred will be key for Philly. He enjoyed much success vs. Jeremy Hall last season with D.C. and will test the Red Bulls fullback all day.

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PRE-GAME– Danish winger Brian Nielsen is in the lineup today, having just received his ITC and passed his physical on Thursday.

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PRE-GAME– Here are today's starting lineups:

RED BULLS

—————Angel——-Ibrahim————–

Nielsen————-Lindpere———–Richards

———————Robinson———————-

Miller———Ream——-Petke————-Hall

——————–Coundoul————————

UNION

————–Moreno———LeToux—————

———-Fred——————-Torres————–

————Jacobson—-Miglioranzi—————–

Salinas——-Orozco———Arrieta——-Harvey

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PRE-GAME– Good afternoon everbody. It's a beautiful day in Harrison, New Jersey for the first installment of this Red Bull-Union rivalry. Lineups will be up in a minute.

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