Philadelphia Union 2-0 NYCFC
New York City FC dropped a second consecutive match away from home, lost to the Philadelphia Union, 2-0, Saturday afternoon at Talen Energy Stadium.
The hosts attacked from the outset, but Josh Saunders kept them off the board with a lunging save in the 11minute, denying Keegan Rosenberry of a header off a corner from Tranquillo Barnetta.
One minute later, David Villa took a shot from distance that deflected onto the top netting for NYCFC’s first corner.
In the 25minute, Villa received a low cross from Steven Mendoza and put a shot from 12 yards out off the crossbar.
One minute later, the Union grabbed the lead when Chris Pontius tapped in from the edge of the six off a ball cut back into the box by Barnetta.
C.J. Sapong doubled Philadelphia’s lead in the 41minute when he redirected a Sebastien Le Toux shot after initially latching onto a long ball over the top.
Ronald Matarrita just missed connecting with Villa at the far post on a free kick in the 37minute and then the NYCFC captain some how was able to swing his foot around while prone to force Union goalkeeper Andre Blake into a save just before halftime.
For a third straight game, and third on the road, Patrick Vieira went with a 4-3-3 with four changes from the team that fell to Columbus, 3-2, a week ago.
The midfield was completely changed, with Federico Bravo replacing Andrea Pirlo, who wasn’t part of Vieira’s 18, and Kwadwo Poku and Mikey Lopez starting where Tommy McNamara and Mix Diskerud did a week prior.
Up front, Khiry Shelton returned to the starting XI, replacing Tony Taylor. Vieira brought on McNamara for Poku for his first change in the 59 minute and R.J. Allen replaced Matarrita in the 70 minute. Eight minutes later, Mix Diskerud came on for Lopez for Vieira’s final substitution.
NYCFC had the better of possession in a scoreless game and had the most clear-cut scoring chance to that point when Villa received a Steven Mendoza cross from the left and rattled the crossbar from 12 yards out.
One minute later, the Union scored the first of two first-half goals.
