Philadelphia Union II went head to head against New York Red Bulls II on Sunday evening at MSU Soccer Park, taking all three points in a 2-1 road win.
In the first half, Union II applied the pressure early, seeing defender Gino Portella’s header force a point blank save just two minutes into the match after their first set piece opportunity of the night.
In the 20th minute, Union II made their breakthrough, when forward Jose Riasco made a long run into the box, beating multiple defenders and sliding the ball to forward Nelson Pierre who buried his shot to give the boys in blue the 1-0 advantage. In the 27th minute, forward Nelson Pierre nearly netted his second goal of the match, earning a corner after forcing New York keeper Alan Rutkowski to make a save from close range.
The Red Bulls started to apply the pressure at the end of the first half, but forward Nelson Pierre was able to break away in the 39th minute on the counter attack, making a run into the box and slotting his shot past the keeper and into the bottom right corner to double the visitors’ lead at 2-0 and complete his first half brace. Defender Juan Castillo registered his first MLS NEXT Pro assist of the season on the play, facing his former club.
Union II opened the second half filled with energy and continued to display attacking threats. In the 62nd minute, Union II came close to finding their third goal of the match when midfielder David Vazquez played a beautiful cross to forward Nelson Pierre who’s header was just barely reached by the New York goalkeeper.
In the 77th minute, Union II defender Francis Westfield was shown a red card after preventing a scoring opportunity in the box, sending New York to the penalty spot. Red Bulls forward Ricardo Gorday then put away the spot kick to pull one back for New York. Just ten minutes later, New York’s man up advantage was erased when defender Juan Gutierrez saw red after stopping Union II forward Nelson Pierre’s run at goal. Then in stoppage time, New York was shown their second red card of the match when defender Jayden Reid committed a foul to prevent a counter attacking opportunity.
After a chippy second half, Union II were able to secure the 2-1 win, and take all three points on the road for the second time this season.
Philadelphia Union II are back on the road on Sunday, May 14 (6:00 p.m. ET / MLSNEXTPro.com) where they play Inter Miami II at DRV PNK Stadium.
