Three days after meeting in the U.S. Open Cup, the Philadelphia Union and New York Red Bulls will square off in MLS play Saturday night in Harrison, N.J.
The Union (15-5-6, 51 points) received an 89th-minute goal from Olwethu Makhanya to sink the visiting Red Bulls 3-2 in Wednesday’s Open Cup quarterfinal in Chester, Pa. The match already was moved from July 9 but delayed for nearly two hours due to severe weather.
Philadelphia’s victory not only sent the team to a Sept. 16 Open Cup semifinal vs. Nashville SC, but put it in good spirits as it looks to pad its lead atop the Supporters’ Shield standings. The Union have a two-point advantage over San Diego FC and FC Cincinnati.
“The energy in this team’s awesome; the togetherness is great,” Union coach Bradley Carnell said. “I think you can just see exactly the way the team digs deep and rallies through tough moments after a two-hour delay.”
The Red Bulls (10-10-6, 36 points) are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, tied on points with ninth-place Chicago but behind the Fire in the standings on a tiebreaker.
New York will look to turn the page after Wednesday’s loss, knowing a favorable result against the Union at Red Bull Arena could push it back above the playoff line. The Red Bulls haven’t missed the playoffs since 2009.
“It’s not the moment now to be angry or something like that. … The focus (is now) to use these two days, and then on Saturday (be ready) to play in our stadium against Philly,” Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz said after Wednesday’s match. “We can learn a lot, but we can also see how we want to play.”
Philadelphia is unbeaten in its past five MLS matches (3-0-2). Wednesday’s win was the Union’s 16th unbeaten result against the Red Bulls across all competitions (12-0-4).
–Field Level Media
