Philadelphia Union kicks off the knockout round of Leagues Cup with a familiar foe in rivals D.C. United on Thursday night at Subaru Park. Kick off is sets for 8PM with the match available for free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV!
The Boys in Blue topped their group with resounding performances that started off with a 3-1 victory against Club Tijuana behind a brace from Julian Carranza. Midfielder Daniel Gazdag took things to another level with a hat trick that powered the Union to a 5-1 win over Queretaro to secure the No. 1 spot in East Group 1. The Hungarian enters the knockout rounds near the top goalscorer with four goals trailing only CF Monterrey's German Berterame while midfielder Jesus Bueno is currently tied the lead with a trio of assists.
Thursday's match sees the Union once again in a win-or-go-home situation, something the club has quite a lot of experience in over the past year with deep runs in the MLS Cup Playoffs and Concacaf Champions League.
"We are into the a knockout phase of a competition where we know at home we have a really record and our players tend to get the most out of themselves in these type of high pressure games," Head Coach Jim Curtin said.
Head Coach Jim Curtin called the contest a challenging one with the focus for the Boys in Blue being on forward Christian Benteke who leads the team with eight goals, all inside the box. The 32-year-old was quite active in their previous matchup in May which ended in a scoreless draw in Chester, Pa.Â
"When they came here in here and played us to 0-0, they made it really hard on us and in some ways we dodged some bullets because they had a lot of good looks on goal," Curtin said. "Having said that their team is quite different with five or six changes for a wide ariety of reasons but they are still organized. They still want to play and open up the field and pass out of pressure. They commit a lot of numbers forward and defend well as a team so it'll be a really tough test for us."
D.C. United come to Subaru Park as runners-up in East Group 2 after falling to Pumas UNAM, 3-0, on Saturday night in front of their home fans. The Liga MX side needed just six minutes to open the scoring and doubled their lead just before the break. The visitors wrapped up the scoring in the 52nd with a difficult finish from a tight angle to secure their own spot into the knockout rounds. D.C. United opened Leagues Cup with a 1-0 road victory at CF Montreal led by substitute forward Erik Hurtado scoring the game-winner four minutes after taking to the pitch.
Tickets for the match are on sale right now so don't miss out as the Boys in Blue start the knockout rounds looking to lift the first-ever Leagues Cup!
