The US Open Cup win over Chicago Fire and the wild road victory over New England Revolution were important for confidence in early August, but the shutout of New York City FC, at the time one of the unchallenged top three teams in the Eastern Conference, was Philadelphia Union’s grand opening. That was the moment all the whispers could finally become shouts (although Bobby Warshaw had been banging the drum for some time, to be fair).
But that big 2-0 win almost didn’t happen.
In the second minute of that big home showdown, NYC’s gameplan worked as well as it would all match. They created a 1v1 with a striker and center back, and David Villa — ageless and quite possibly immortal — beat Auston Trusty to the ball at a sprint. The Spanish legend laid the ball off to Maxi Moralez on the right, and the tiny playmaker could pick his spot from a central location as he eyed up Andre Blake’s goal.
Going behind would have meant the Union needed to take chances and push men forward, and against NYC’s dangerous front four, supported by excellent distributor Alex Ring, that could have meant trouble.
So Blake decided Philadelphia would, quite simply, not be going behind. Moralez’s shot was fierce and moving as it dipped away from Blake toward the far side of the goal. The keeper was moving right to left at the time, and he had to set his feet and push off the opposite direction while throwing out a big glove to reach the powerful strike.
He did it, though.
And the Union countered with two goals, showing that they could hang with the top teams in the east.
That’s why Andre Blake’s big stop on Maxi Moralez is the August Save of the Month.c
