This was an interesting game for sure. It was a well matched battle and both teams hit the pitch hard. It was a constant back and forth between sides the entire time. The energy of the crowd in Atlanta was impressive. The fans went nuts for a solid 90 minutes and did a great job of cheering their team on. Atlanta United themselves seemed pretty high energy and dominated control of the ball pretty consistently. The problem was they were inaccurate when they found a chance to shoot on goal. There were at least 3 or 4 times where the ball was well above the goal or to the side. When they were on point, Philadelphia’s Andrew Rick was like going up against a brick wall for them. Rick the Brick, was like a perfectly poised acrobat flying back in forth and making some pretty insane saves. His reaction time was phenomenal and I thought he did a great job of placing himself right where he needed to be.
The Philadelphia Union’s offense has solidly improved this year. I have been impressed with how organized they have become with passing back and forth, and making great strides towards their opponents goal. Tonight we saw some of this, but less than I’d like. Everyone made an effort tonight but in no way did the Union really dominate like they did last Wednesday against LA Galaxy in the second half. Wagner was on a bit of a kamikaze mission, and kept getting hit in the head. I watched this game on Apple TV, and a couple times, their announcers questioned why Wagner was still allowed to be in the game. I personally appreciated him being allowed to continue, as Kai has been great at setting up opportunities for strikers.
Tonight’s real game changer was a quick redirection of the ball by Makhanya around the 53 minute mark in the second half. Makhanya picked off the ball from Atlanta United, and sent it to Wagner. Wagner booted that ball perfectly to the Mikael Uhre for an open net shot on goal which was foiled by Atlanta’s Luis Abram, sliding in to block the shot. Fortunately as Abram slid across the pitch, his arm was up, and a handball was ruled on reviewing the replay. This resulted in a yellow card for Abram, and a penalty shot on goal in favor of the Philadelphia Union. Tai Baribo was selected to take on the penalty shot, and he did not falter. He sunk the ball into the bottom left side of the goal just under Atlanta’s goal keeper resulting in a 1 to nothing lead for Philadelphia.
All in all it was a well matched game. How ever with a bit of luck, Baribo’s reliability to send the ball home, and Andrew (B)Rick being so on point, The Philadelphia Union won the day 1 to 0 over Atlanta. Baribo is standing at 11 goals this year, and Andrew (B)Rick was hailed by the MLS commenters as likely one of the best young goal keepers in the MLS. The commenters referred to the Philadelphia Union as the best in the east right now as well. I have to agree they are leaps and bounds away from where they stood last year. As a Union Season Ticket Member myself I am excited for what this team has done this year so far, and very proud of what they’ve accomplished. I look forward to seeing Philadelphia give Messi a run for his money next week when they face off against InterMiami.
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