Photo by Adam Hunger/USA Today Sports

By FRANCO PANIZO

NEW YORK — For the second time in six days, the Philadelphia Union found themselves in search of a late goal against New York City FC.

For the second time in six days, the Union found one.

Philadelphia grabbed a valuable road point against New York City on Thursday night, as a wide open C.J. Sapong smashed a shot home four minutes from the death to end the match in a 1-1 stalemate. The goal at Yankee Stadium was Sapong’s first with the Union, but more importantly gave the club four points from its two-game set against NYCFC following last Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 victory at PPL Park.

While this past weekend’s game demonstrated a never-say-die attitude from Philadelphia, Thursday’s match showed its ability to grind out a result. Philadelphia was outplayed for large stretches in the Bronx and only conceded after a moment of pure magic from Mehdi Ballouchy. The club reacted rather than wilted, and found its reward through Sapong’s late finish.

“It was big for us to stick to the task, get a goal at the end and hang on, because it’s not easy on the road,” said Union head coach Jim Curtin. “They threw a lot of numbers forward, they put a lot into the game. You could tell by the number of guys they had cramping up that were exhausted because they put a lot of energy and effort into the game.

“Happy, though, that we hung on and got the result, but any time you can put back-to-back good performances together, we’re happy.”

The result improved the Union to 1-3-3 on the year and moved them, at least temporarily, into sixth place in the Eastern Conference. It also injected confidence into a club that prior to this two-game swing with NYCFC was at the bottom of the barrel in the East with two points from five games.

The frustration and anger that was felt through those opening matches was now gone. Instead, there was a confirmation, a true sense of self-belief. The Union can indeed compete, so long as they play to their capabilities.

“These are things that we know we can do,” said Sapong. “We haven’t been playing to our standard from the beginning of the season. Hey, we’re slowly but surely finding our motto, we’re finding our swag, if you will, and we’re just going to keep building on that.

“There’s a lot of games left, so we want to make sure that when the games really count that we’re at our fullest potential.”

Resting on its laurels is not something Philadelphia can afford. The club plays its third game in nine days on Sunday when it returns home to host another Eastern Conference foe in the New England Revolution.

The Union know that putting forth an improved performance in that one would be greatly beneficial to their cause. But they believe they’ll have a shot at picking up a result so long as they keep the same mentality and attitude that they showed against NYCFC.

“All we can do is focus and worry about the things that we can control, and that’s how we go out there and play,” said Edu. “How we prepare ourselves over the next couple of days to be in the best situation possible, to go out there, compete and ultimately get three points.”