On Wednesday night the Union look to continue their home unbeaten streak when they face Sporting KC at PPL Park. Philadelphia is coming off of the back of a poor outing which they lost 1-0 to the struggling Vancouver Whitecaps at Empire Field. It was the worst performance I’ve seen from the Union all season.
I had a bad feeling from the time I saw the starting XI. Peter Nowak decided to bring back the 4-3-3 formation that saw poor offensive output in the beginning of the season. Stefani Miglioranzi made his way into the starting lineup in midfield and the newly signed Veljko Paunovic got the nod up front. I didn’t like any of these decisions as Miglioranzi had a terrible start of the season then got injuried and Paunovic just came out of a 2.5 year retirement when he signed with the Union the Monday before the match with Vancouver. The Union looked disjointed due to these changes. There was no chemistry between the midfield and the front men. Philadelphia’s defense continued to play well but did concede an early goal when Whitecaps defender Alain Rochat blasted a long range shot past an outstretched Faryd Mondragon in the 12th minute. That would prove to be the game winner. The Union made some offensive minded substitutions in the 2nd half but still couldn’t get anything going. Now they must regroup and try to get back in the win column against Sporting KC.
Sporting KC comes into this match at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 13 points from 13 games but have a 5 game unbeaten streak. It was a tough start of the season for Sporting KC as they had to play their first 10 match on the road as they were waiting for the finishing touches to be put on the new home, LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Since the opening of their new stadium KC has 2 wins and 1 draw and is starting to heat up. Kei Kamara and Teal Bunbury both have 3 goals and are tied for the team lead. Sporting has conceded 20 goals or about 1.5 goals against per game so far this season. The have scored 17 which is 1 more than the Union. Despite Sporting being at the bottom of the table this is going to be a tough game as their form has been improving. Sporting KC will be without the services of Craig Rocastle due to injury, Roger Espinoza who is still playing in the Gold Cup for Honduras, and Aurelien Collin who is serving a 1 game suspension due to yellow card accumulations.
The Union have a record of 0-1-1 against KC. Last season Philadelphia lost to KC 2-0 on the road and played to a 1-1 draw at PPL Park. The Union has not kept a clean sheet in their last 8 games and will be looking to change their luck. Last Saturday was the 1st time they were held scoreless in more than a month. This match is the 1st of a 2 game home stand and Philadelphia will need to gets all the points available if they want to get back atop the Eastern Conference. The Union’s lone participant in the Gold Cup, Carlos Ruiz, has joined back up with the club after Guatemala was knocked out by Mexico but is unlikely to return to the lineup for this match as Nowak is looking to give him some rest.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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