Union defeat San Jose Earthquakes, 2-0, for Jim Curtin’s 100th victory as coach
On a cold night in Chester, the Union were triumphant over their West Coast rivals.
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CHESTER – The Philadelphia Union did enough on Saturday night to beat the San Jose Earthquakes, one of the worst teams in Major League Soccer in frigid conditions.
Philadelphia used one moment of brilliance from Sergio Santos that resulted in a goal from Cory Burke and a Daniel Gazdag penalty kick to beat San Jose, 2-0.
Philadelphia now claims 7 points in the league, while San Jose has one.
The victory was the 100th regular-season win of Jim Curtin’s career as the Union’s manager, who didn’t seem completely satisfied with the result.
“We’re just missing that little extra quality or decision-making in front of goal,” Curtin said.
The Union broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Santos sped around a defender on the left flank to set up a wide-open Burke in front of the net.
Burke did not have a defender in close range and he easily deposited his 20th regular-season goal into the back of the net.
Burke became the eighth Union player to reach the 20-goal mark in regular-season action.
Sebastien Le Toux, C.J. Sapong, Kacper Przybylko, Jack McInerney, Ilsinho, Fafa Picault and Conor Casey are the other seven players to have 20 goals in franchise history.
Burke’s tally appeared to be the lone goal the Union would produce, but then a penalty was gifted to the home side in the 57th minute.
A ball that popped up in the air bounced awkwardly and hit the outstretched arm of Jackson Yueill on the left side of the penalty area to cause the penalty kick.
Daniel Gazdag stepped up to the spot and coolly knocked in a Panenka-style chipped shot into the top-right corner of the net.
Gazdag fooled Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski and scored for the second consecutive week.
Outside of the two goals, the attacking chances did not result to anything significant.
The Union produced a handful of nice buildups into the attacking third, but nothing of substance came from open play after Burke’s tally.
San Jose offered nothing going forward and its formation was more of an amoeba than an actual tactical approach.
Union goalkeeper Andre Blake was forced into one very easy save in the first half and did nothing for the rest of the night. San Jose’s attack finished the match with an expected goals total of 0.3.
Philadelphia will be back in action next Saturday at Yankee Stadium to play New York City FC in a rematch of the 2021 Eastern Conference Final.
The Union’s biggest concern heading into that match will be the health of record signing Mikael Uhre, who missed Saturday’s match with a quad injury.
“In hindsight, maybe we just pushed him too hard, too soon, and the quad tightened up,” said Curtin of the Danish forward. “I don’t think it’s anything too serious, so we were a little bit cautious, rather than throw him our there in ten degree temperatures.”
However, the Union’s other striker, Julian Carranza, will be back after serving a one-game red card suspension.