That shot.
Marco Fabián got all of it, and Kenneth Kronholm knew he was the soccer equivalent of posterized before the net rippled.
But that one delightful moment was part of a worrying first half pattern in which the Union couldn’t penetrate the Chicago Fire box and relied on Fabián’s long strikes as the main threat on goal. Aside from the Mexican international’s deep shots (he took four in the first half), Brenden Aaronson’s late run and deflected shot from the top of the box was Philly’s only attempt of the opening forty-five minutes.
In short, the Union dominated play but struggled to consistently break down Chicago’s five-man defense.
“Got a great goal from Marco Fabian and then kind of relaxed a bit,” Jim Curtin said later. “Chicago came into the game now and we allowed them time in space, and they created too many chances.
“Still, not our perfect game, not a complete game, but a very professional performance. In the middle of July, or the end of July, you need these types of wins and you need a clean sheet to be honest.”
It had been far too long since the Union had put up a zero defensively, and although CJ Sapong created two chances with his head this was the best defensive performance fans had seen in some time.
“You can see, last few games now, three goals, four goals against, its starts to weigh on guys’ minds: Is there more they can do?”
“And sometimes they press and try to do too much.”
Curtin continues to push his team to be great, and that means criticism after wins even though the coach is proud of the effort he sees. For instance, the head coach said the team focused on getting Fabián the ball in transition moments, however he thought the execution in those moments could still improve.
“You saw three or four of those tonight where maybe he didn’t execute it perfect, maybe he turned it over, maybe passed when he should have dribbled and maybe dribbled when he should have passed,” Curtin shrugged. “It’s not perfect right now, for our whole group, which is actually OK, we don’t want to peak in July. I still think that this group has a lot more to give, a lot more we can improve on and we have some pieces that are now getting healthy and coming back after injury.
“Marco can change a defense, just by the goal he scores now, if you think about it, center backs and the back line has to step out and that leaves space for Fafa [Picault] or Kacper [Przybylko] to get in behind. It changes everything. The more repetitions we can get him, the more times we can put him on the ball in those transitions in the center part of the field, the better. We don’t want him, like he did a lot in the first half, coming all the way back and getting the ball off of our defenders and towards the side lines. That’s not gonna make a team panic.”
Finally, the Union are looking to adjust to life at the top. Curtin admitted it’s a new position for the club, but he didn’t view fear or anxiety as responses that would occur to his players. “We have a target on our back now, as the top team in our conference, as a team that has beat a lot of the good teams in the East already, a couple from the West as well,” he smiled. “So were not sneaking up on anybody and that’s different for us.
“There is weight that comes with that and I think our players have navigated it well.”
The Union are back in action this Saturday night, July 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET when they play Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo on PHL17.
