The Philadelphia Union look to complete the month of May without a loss when they square off against struggling FC Dallas on Saturday in Frisco, Texas.
The Union (10-3-3, 33 points) lead the MLS in wins and points after a 2-1 road victory over Toronto FC on Wednesday that pushed the team’s unbeaten streak in league play to eight matches (6-0-2).
Kai Wagner scored the deciding goal in the second minute of stoppage time after assisting on Nathan Harriel’s game-tying goal in the 86th minute.
The Union improved to 5-2-0 in away matches this season. Philadelphia has not lost since a 1-0 defeat at New York City FC on April 12.
“Things haven’t been perfect, but things have been great,” Union coach Bradley Carnell said about his team’s performance in May. “We’ve still been very critical of where we’ve dropped points or where we’ve dropped moments. There’s a synergy, alignment, and a synchronization in everything we do.
“Sure, we kind of get lucky (at times), though I believe that the harder you work, those are the moments you create.”
FC Dallas (4-6-5, 17 points) begin the weekend in 11th place in the West, three points behind Texas rivals Houston and Austin.
The Toros are without a win in league play in their five matches in May (0-3-2), with their most recent outing a 3-3 draw at FC Cincinnati on Wednesday.
It took an extra time goal by Sebastien Ibeagha for Dallas to split the points; Petar Musa and Anderson Julio also scored for the Toros in the draw after Dallas fell behind by two goals in the first half.
“The fact that we were able to come back from 2-0 down at halftime, and then again to come back late and tie just shows the mentality of this team,” Dallas defender Marco Farfan said. “We can compete with everybody. It’s just fixing up the details. … We need to be able to take advantage and get three points.”
Wednesday’s comeback was the third time this season that Dallas has trailed by two goals on the road and recovered to earn points.
Dallas’ most recent victory was a 4-3 decision on the road over Inter Miami on April 27.
–Field Level Media
