Philadelphia Unions busy August schedule sees the club play their third contest in eight days when they make the trip north for a showdown with the Eastern Conference leaders, New England Revolution. Kick off from New England is set for 6 p.m. ET on Sunday evening and will be available for fans to watch in a variety of ways with PHL17 on TV, PhiladelphiaUnion.com for streaming that's free for fans within the Philadelphia DMA as well as on the radio via FOX The Gambler which can be accessed by clicking here.
The Union come into the contest sitting in third place in the East after the offense came alive in Wednesday night's 3-0 victory over Toronto FC. Daniel Gazdag and Sergio Santos put up MLS Team of the Week performances in the win, with the Hungarian setting up the opening goal with a corner kick connection to Jakob Glesnes. He doubled the Union's lead in the 33rd minute with a finish from the penalty spot that was awarded via Santos being foul inside the box. Santos notched his own first-half goal, capping off a counter attack with a flick over the keeper to round out the scoring.
Philly and New England have crossed paths just once in 2021 but the budding rivalry still exists after facing off six times in 2020. In the latest chapter of the two sides back in May, it was once more a gritty affair that ended in a 1-1 deadlock that was full of late drama. Scoreless through 80+ minutes, New England thought they had a smash-and-grab win on their hands when Teal Bunbury slid while shooting and hooked the ball inside Blake’s near post. Undaunted, Philly sought an immediate answer. Kai Wagner flicked a long ball to the corner flag and Monteiro found an extra gear to track it down. Creating space, he floated a cross into the six yard box and Przybylko fearlessly rose to challenge first Turner, then two additional defenders in the air. On his second leap, Przybylko nodded the ball through traffic and into the goal.
The Eastern Conference leaders come into Sunday's match with an eight-point lead over second place and the core of that has been their dominance on their home turf. Through eight home matches the Revs have a 6-1-1 record with that only loss coming against a reinvigorated Toronto FC squad after parting ways with Chris Armas. Despite the loss, New England nearly got the draw with a pair of second half goals but ran out of time for the 3-2 loss. The Revs are coming off their only other points dropped though which marked the first match without playmaker Carles Gil. Despite the loss of the midfielder, the battled to a 0-0 draw against Nashville SC. The match did see the return of goalkeeper Matt Turner fresh off his USMNT run at the Gold Cup.
