Philadelphia Union fell to Real Salt Lake at home on Saturday night after an 89th minute goal from Alexandros Katranis put them ahead 2-1. The result marked their first loss of the season, halting their seven-game unbeaten streak from becoming eight. After the final whistle, Head Coach Jim Curtin met with the media, recapping the night.
Second half shots
Before the match, Curtin spoke to his team about how critical the first 15 minutes would be, especially coming off of a bye week without a match. They took that to heart, holding Real Salt Lake scoreless not only through that span, but until the 34th minute, when a block from Andre Blake made an unfavorable bounce that ended up past the goal line.
After a trip to the locker room, the team came out aggressive in the second half looking to overcome that deficit as they've done on numerous occasions so far in 2024. In the 50th minute, Quinn Sullivan found Daniel Gazdag for a beautiful back-heeled goal to knot them at 1-1, and it held until the final moments of regulation time. Though displeased with the result, Curtin spoke to what he saw from his team in the latter 45 minutes of play.
“I thought we played pretty well in the second half .I think that Danny had a tap-in and Mikael had a tap-in. Julian had a good half chance at the end there. I thought that we had them under control in the second half of the game, and again, it's a good opponent,” Curtin said.
“If we put one of those in the back of the net we're having different discussions. We didn’t, we got punished. They scored a great shot, probably the only shot to the half. So again, I think we created enough to win and had a pretty big advantage in expecting goals but that doesn't mean anything. Actual goals are what matter,” Curtin said.
Making history
With his equalizer, Gazdag tied Union Legend Sebastian LeToux’s goal scoring record, meaning the next time he hits the back of the net, the Hungarian will etch his name in the club’s history book as it's all-time leading goal scorer. Curtin remarked on the upcoming milestone, while keeping the night’s result in mind.
“It's good for Dani. He could have broken it tonight – that’s what he would probably tell you. He’s a great player. He has a knack for popping up in the box, finding goal finishes obviously in the run a play but also he’s great at taking PKS,” Curtin said.
“Special player, special talent. Good achievement for him, good accolade, but I think he’d give anything for the three points tonight and that's the most important.”
