Union Look for First Points on West Coast

The Philadelphia Union are in San Jose to face the Earthquakes on Saturday at 10:30 PM Eastern.The West Coast has been unkind to the Union this season. They have earn zero points on there previous 3 trips out to that part of the continent. This will be the 2nd time these team meet this year. On April 30, Philadelphia defeated the Quakes 1-0 at PPL Park. On that day the Union played a man down from the 41st minute after Jordan Harvey, who was trade to Vancouver for allocation money on Thursday, was shown a straight red card. Sebastien LeToux scored the games lone goal from the penalty spot after a handball in the box. 

San Jose lost 2-0 to Chivas USA on Wednesday night in LA. The Quakes are winless in their last 4 matches and currently sit tied for 6th in the Western Conference with 21 points off of 17 games.  San Jose has been held scoreless in 3 of their 4 last games. They have a record of 3-2-4 at Buck Shaw Stadium. Chris Wondolowski leads the Quakes with 6 goals. They will be without the services of FW Steven Lenhart who has 5 goals and 2 assists due to suspension for yellow card accumulation. Philadelphia native Bobby Convey, Ike Opara, and Andre Luiz are all out with injuries. 

The Philadelphia Union enter this match 1 point behind RBNY in the Eastern Conference with 2 games in hand. This is the 2nd game of a 3 game road trip. The Union have 8 road points already this season which is more than they had all of last year, but in order to stay in contention for the Supporter’s Shield and MLS Cup the are going to have starting take all 3 points available when playing lesser teams on the road.

The unexpected midweek trade of LB Jordan Harvey leaves some questions as to whom will play that position. The only players to feature in the Union’s defense besides their regular starting 4 have been Gabe and Michael Farfan and Keon Daniel. Philadelphia has scored 5 goals in the last 2 matches including 2 against DC United last weekend at RFK Stadium. Carlos Ruiz nabbed a point for the Union when he neatly slotted home a Sheanon Williams cross in the 85th minute. That goal put Ruiz in the team lead with 6. Williams hard work earned him a spot on the MLS team of the week for the 2nd time this year. Recent signee, MF Veljko Paunovic is listed as doubtful for this match with a left hip strain. Ruiz did not make the trip to San Jose and will not play against the Earthquakes.

This is an important match for Philadelphia as RBNY and Columbus have moved up the table and dropping points can negatively affect the Union’s psyche. Philly only has 1 win in their last 6 matches and a win here can go a long way to helping them win the East. A strong defensive showing will be welcomed by Union fans as for the 1st time all season their defense allowed back to back multi-goal games.

(image courtesy of Getty Images)