Photo by Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
By JOE TANSEY
CHESTER, PA — Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips combined for the first time as teammates just outside the City of Brotherly Love to hand the New York Red Bulls a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.
The Eastern Conference clash at PPL Park started with a whimper as the two sides combined for zero shots on goal in front of boisterous sets of visiting and home fans.
Although he was not credited with any saves through 45 minutes, Luis Robles did jump into action on two occasions to swat away dangerous looking crosses from the left wing from Sebastien Le Toux and Cristian Maidana respectively.
Sacha Kljestan created the best chance of the opening stanza in the 40th minute, when he knocked a shot from the left side of the penalty area into the side netting.
As the second half began, the action started to ramp up as the two teams started to dish out physical fouls in front of the sellout crowd of 18,883.
Union netminder John McCarthy was first forced into action in the 49th minute, as he deflected B. Wright-Phillips’ shot out for a corner kick. Unfortunately for the Red Bulls, that chance resulted in nothing.
As both managers called upon replacements in an attempt to bring the match to life, Robles sprung into action in the 57th minute to deny Maidana’s free-kick from the right side of the field.
The scoreless deadlock was finally broken in the 66th minute, when Kljestan struck a penalty down the middle past McCarthy.
The penalty was caused by Tranquillo Barnetta, who stepped on the field for the first time as a Union player 30 seconds before fouling S. Wright-Phillips. The newcomer made his Red Bulls debut as a substitute in the 61st minute in favor of Lloyd Sam.
The Union finally found a breakthrough in the 73rd minute as Sebastien Le Toux equalized with a smashing shot into the top of the net in front of the River End. Le Toux capitalized on a loose ball in the box after Fernando Aristeguieta failed to connect with a Maidana cross from the left wing.
Just as the Union were finishing their celebration of Le Toux’s goal, B. Wright-Phillips slotted in the go-ahead goal after his brother got around Ray Gaddis on the left wing.
Philadelphia attempted to get back in the game late with an attack-minded substitution that saw Conor Casey enter for Ethan White in the 82nd minute.
Casey came close to hitting the back of the net two minutes after entering the match, but Robles sprawled to his left and denied the forward. Despite playing with three forwards for the final 10 minutes, the Union were unable to take a point away from the contest.
Anatole Abang sealed the New York victory with his fourth goal of the season in stoppage time.
The Red Bulls will be back in action on Wednesday in Montreal, while Philadelphia heads to Orlando on Saturday.
guess we’ll see how red NY is with next weeks game, but good win, and good player pickup as an England international, looks like the NY teams are both getting better by the minute with new player signings…
I’m pretty sure taking 6 out of 6 so far this year proves that New York is, was, and always will be RED! RBNY just keeps getting better while NYCFC keeps leaking goals. Villa, Lampard, and Pirlo are great but until that defense stops giving up 1.5 g/game they won’t go anywhere. #NYisRED
I think Joe forgot “in the first half” in the second sentence.
SWP completely cooked Gadis on that assist. It will really be something once we find a way to get all of these guys on the field. Taxi and Veron weren’t even available for this match.
Boisterous? Neither group of fans were all that loud. The river end was half empty and half of those walked out early. The most noticeable thing the NYRB fans did was when a few were thrown out for fighting. That wouldn’t have been noticed if it didn’t happen at half time. That said, the penalty while a clear foul, was about as cynical as they come. Not that the Union was going to win. They’ve obviously given up on the season. Please sell!
Watching on TV, the stadium looked packed, including the River End. Were at the game?
You could hear the NY fans singing loud and clear on TV.
NY is Red!
Man how good is this RedBulls team