After his team fell 2-0 to LA Galaxy, Union head coach Jim Curtin thought that his team gave up a soft penalty and will need to respond with more focus from the start to recover next weekend at home against Montreal.
"We don't locate Zlatan, he jumps over us for the penalty... meh, that's just three guys jumping for a ball," Curtin explained. Philly's head man didn't think the penalty changed the match, though, saying that "we weren't ourselves in the first half."
"We've been a team that's had success by being brave," he continued. "Going forward, being compact, and taking risks."
Losing Marco Fabian early in the match certainly did not help the Union, but Curtin said the Mexican international only had a minor injury.
"An unfortunate injury early to Marco Fabian," Curtin said. "Had hopes for playing a big role in the game. Lost him early. Credit to the Galaxy, they played at a tempo that was faster than we've seen this season.
"I think when he planted it rolled on him and he thought he could continue. Sometimes it feels stable but then your first sprint or your first change of direction it gives."
The Galaxy looked to move up their right early, but they did their damage up the left. Curtin thought that with Fabian in the team, his squad would have been able to control LA by placing their creator between Galaxy's right fullback and center back.
"We had a unique formation out there that the Galaxy wasn't anticipating with a striker underneath," Curtin said, describing how Fabian played underneath Cory Burke. "And he was a key guy that we wanted to put on the ball a lot on their left hand side and have him drift over there.
Jamiro Monteiro made his first start of the season for the Union as part of a four-man midfield supporting Fabian and Burke. The Cape Verde midfielder was active but could not help Philadelphia break through in Los Angeles.
Philly returns to action on Saturday, April 20, 1 p.m. ET as part of a double-header with Bethlehem Steel at Talen Energy Stadium as part of Kids' Day.
