Preview: #PHIvNE
- Updated: May 16, 2014
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
The New England Revolution (5-3-2, 17 points) will be looking to keep their impressive form when they travel to Chester, Pennsylvania on Saturday to take on the Philadelphia Union (2-5-5, 11 points) at PPL Park.
The match, which will be the second meeting of the season between the Eastern Conference rivals, is set to kickoff at 7 PM.
The Revs are aiming to make it four wins in a row this weekend with John Hackworth’s side standing in their way. The Union are coming off an impressive 2-1 mid-week victory over the defending champions Sporting KC.
After six unsuccessful attempts at PPL Park (which includes four straight one-goal defeats), the Revs will look to collect their first victory at the Union’s less-than-hospitable home grounds since the squad joined the league back in 2010.
Jay Heaps’ red-hot squad have garnered 13 points from their last five games (4-0-1), and they will go into the match on the heels of a stunning 5-0 triumph at home over the talent-stacked Seattle Sounders last Sunday. Other wins during that span came over Toronto (2-1), Kansas City (2-0) and Houston (2-0). A wild 1-1 draw at Chicago has been the only hiccup in the club’s recent run of form.
On the other side of the pitch, the Union has gotten off to a slow start to begin their 2014 campaign. In fact, their 1-0 victory in week 2 over the visiting Revolution was their lone victory of the season until Wednesday’s shocking 2-1 win in Kansas City, who dropped their first home loss of the regular season.
In that match, Danny Cruz put the Union ahead at the top of the second half, but Dom Dwyer leveled the score with his team-best seventh goal of the season ten minutes from time. But midfielder Christian Maidana would have the final say when he blasted a shot from 12 yards less than a minute later.
Saturday’s clash will mark the second time in as many weeks where the Revs will face an opponent who played in a midweek contest. The Sounders enjoyed a 2-1 victory over the FC Dallas before facing the Revs three days later. Incidentally, the Union are coming off a 2-1 midweek victory themselves.
In the last meeting between the Revs and Union, Sebastien Le Toux provided the only goal of the match in the 31st minute to help the hosts claim a 1-0 victory.
After scoring two goals in two games, rookie forward Patrick Mullins figures to get another start up top while Diego Fagundez – who snapped his scoring drought last week with a pair of first half strikes – and Teal Bunbury will be out wide. The dangerous duo of Lee Nguyen and Daigo Kobayashi will likely round out the attacking corps, while Kelyn Rowe could once again come off the bench this weekend.
The two clubs are scheduled to meet again for the third and final time of the regular season on June 28 at Gillette Stadium.
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