Philadelphia Union rose to third in the Eastern Conference table on Wednesday night after battling a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas. Following the match, Head Coach Jim Curtin offered his thoughts on the contest.
Good glimpses
Wednesday’s match saw 19 shots for the Philadelphia Union and a textbook finish from homegrown Quinn Sullivan for his second goal in a week, but their persistent attack was unable to find a game-winner after Dallas’s first half equalizer. Though it was a much more upbeat performance compared to Sunday’s 0-0 draw against LAFC, Curtin and his squad still weren’t pleased with the final score.
‘This was our game in hand and players and fans, I'm sure wanted three points. So apologize for not getting that done.”
“Had decent moments in the game tonight, had good chances. At the end, their goalkeeper made a couple of big saves. But at the end of the day, it's another draw , which you know, we're not getting beat but at the same time, we want to wait when we're at home every time we step on the field.”
We control our own destiny
Though it wasn't the three point swing up to second that Union faithful hoped for, Wednesday’s result still bumped Philadelphia to third place in the Eastern Conference above Saturday’s upcoming opponent, Columbus Crew.
Despite their present promising positioning, the team’s attitude isn’t yet celebratory, rather focused on finishing the season in top form through their final four games.
“As bad as it hurts, guys, we sit in third place, a point out of second, and we can control our own destiny – that’s the reality of things. We know who’s coming in here; we have Atlanta, Nashville, and an end of the year Decision Day game against New England, obviously a tough test against Columbus where we’ll be tired, they’ll be fresh. But anything is possible in this league,” Head Coach Jim Curtin said.
“We can go anywhere and beat anybody, but conversely, as you’ve seen, we can also tie and lose to anybody. That's the reality of the league. We’ll continue to push and hopefully we can end the season the right way, get the full group going and clicking. And when that happens you’ll see we can beat anybody.”
Missing playmakers
Philadelphia Union is just a point above the three teams tied for fourth below them and one under Orlando City, who holds the second place spot at 51 points. Slim margins on the table have mirrored the slim margins field as of late and without the squad at full strength, the Union has finished their last four games knotted.
Curtin was without Julían Carranza, Jakob Glesnes, José Martinez, and Leon Flach on Wednesday, and after the match, he explained how his missing players’ both in the starting lineup and on the bench has shifted the team’s ability to claim decided wins.
“It’s no secret our margins are razor, razor thin. So, when you miss a player of [José Martinez’s] quality, it hurts. Bueno has done an amazing job too. But just now having to run guys out there over and over again, just to have a Leon fully healthy, just to kind of spell some guys and he's a great starter as well – but he’s hurt.”
“These things happen during seasons. Hopefully we get the guys back quickly. Not even so much just for starting again, but just to have a little bit of something to tweak or change the game. So when we get a little bit thin now and we lose a couple of these guys, it shows.”
