Match Thoughts: Philadelphia Union Vs. New York Red Bulls

So once the NY Red Bulls got DeRo, they were supposed to set the league on fire. I'm waiting.

Meanwhile, a Torres scored a goal. It just wasn't El Nino.

I busted my butt to get home from work yesterday afternoon to catch this Eastern Conference clash on ESPN 2. Philly has been playing pretty well, and as I mentioned, NY is favorites for the cup now, right? (Somebody might want to double check with Real Salt Lake.) Anyway, I was little disappointed. This match wasn't as big of a stinker as the Chivas/Crew match was later in the evening, but it could have been better.

The first half belonged to Red Bulls, and for awhile it looked like they were ready to break things as wide open as everyone was predicting. They had the lion's share of possession, and when Philly did get the ball, they failed to threaten Coundoul at all in the NY net. US international Juan Agudelo really was the star for NY, getting two nice shots on target, unfortunately for him and Red Bulls, one hit a post and the other hit the crossbar. These would be the best chances Red Bulls would have all night. Henry wasn't a factor.

We went to the break 0-0, and Philly was probably happy to be sitting on a draw as much as they were outplayed. However, the second half was a bit of a different story. The Union looked a little more comfy on the ball, and you could tell that they were starting to sense that NY wasn't going to be able to put them away.

In fact, the footy gods struck NY down in the 68th minute off the foot of Tim Ream. In one of the most boneheaded moves you'll see in MLS this season, Ream, just outside his own 18, kicked the ball right to Philly's Danny Mwanga. Oops. Mwanga got the ball to Roger Torres, who had just checked in for Philly, and Torres knocked it into the back of the net for what would prove to be the game's loan goal.

Obviously, NY played well enough to deserve a point. This just goes to show that when you don't take your chances, as NY didn't in the first half, often the opposing side will come back and bite you. DeRo played well, and of course he makes Red Bulls better, but if they're going to keep paying Henry, he ought to do something.

For Philly, they recorded their third clean sheet, as many as they had all last year. Le Toux didn't score, but was involved in the second half quite a bit. Best thing for Philly is that they found a way to pull 3 points out of an ugly match when the other side has outplayed them. That's something champions do. We'll see what happens, but a great start for them.