New York Red Bulls vs. Philadelphia Union | MLS Match Preview

MLSsoccer staff

NEW YORK RED BULLS vs. PHILADELPHIA UNION
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, N.J.
October 18, 2015 (WEEK 33, MLS Game #327)
3 p.m. ET (MSN, TCN-Phi; MLS Live)
The chase for first place in the Eastern Conference and the Supporters' Shield comes to a head when the New York Red Bulls entertain the Philadelphia Union on Sunday afternoon at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls can clinch the top spot in the East and get inside track on the leadership of the MLS overall table and the Supporters' Shield with a win. The Red Bulls return home after seeing their two-game winning run put to an end in a 2-1 loss at Toronto FC at midweek. Already eliminated from playoff contention, Union return to action after a two-game winning streak of their own was ended in a 3-1 defeat at Toronto FC last time out.

The Union saw their winless run stretched to two games in their last match, a 3-1 loss to Toronto FC on Oct. 3 at BMO Field that officially eliminated them from playoff contention.
The teams are meeting for the third time this season in league play, and each has won one on the road. Sacha Kljestan scored one goal and set up another as the Red Bulls took a 3-1 win Aug. 1 at PPL Park; Vincent Nogueira and C.J. Sapong scored goals five minutes apart to lead Union to a 2-0 win May 24 at Red Bull Arena.
The teams also met in an epic US Open Cup quarterfinal on July 21 at Red Bull Arena. Mike Grella scored for the Red Bulls deep in stoppage time to cancel out an Eric Ayuk goal and eventually send the match to a penalty shootout, in which the Union advanced despite playing 80 minutes a man down.
The May 24 win was the Union’s first ever in Harrison; the Red Bulls had gone 5-0-1 in their first six home games vs. Philadelphia and also won a US Open Cup match there.

REFEREE: Ismail Elfath. AR1 (bench): Greg Barkey; AR2 (opposite): Kermit Quisenberry; 4th: Silviu Petrescu
MLS Career: 61 games; FC/gm: 24.9; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 15; pens: 17

SUSPENDED: NYR: Matt Miazga (through Oct. 18)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NYR: Felipe Martins, Damian Perrinelle … PHI: Warren Creavalle, Vincent Nogueira, Steven Vitoria
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NYR: Sacha Kljestan, Chris Duvall, Mike Grella, Connor Lade, Lloyd Sam, Luis Robles, Dax McCarty … PHI: Eric Ayuk Mbu, Sebastien Le Toux, Fernando Aristeguieta, Fabinho
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (15 meetings): Red Bulls 8 wins, 22 goals … Union 5 wins, 19 goals … Ties 2
AT RED BULL ARENA (7 meetings): Red Bulls 5 wins, 9 goals … Union 1 win, 5 goals … Ties 1

2015 (MLS)
5/24: NYR 0, PHI 2 (Nogueira 57; Sapong 62)
8/1: PHI 1, NYR 3 (Le Toux 73 - Kljestan 66; B. Wright-Phillips 74; Abang 94+)

The teams are meeting for the third time this season in league play, and each has won one on the road. Sacha Kljestan scored one goal and set up another as the Red Bulls took a 3-1 win Aug. 1 at PPL Park; Vincent Nogueira and C.J. Sapong scored goals five minutes apart to lead Union to a 2-0 win May 24 at Red Bull Arena.
The teams also met in an epic US Open Cup quarterfinal match on July 21 at Red Bull Arena. Mike Grella scored for the Red Bulls deep in stoppage time to cancel out an Eric Ayuk Mbu goal, and eventually send the match to a penalty shootout, and Union advanced despite playing 80 minutes a man down.
The wins this year were Union's first ever in Harrison; the Red Bulls had gone 5-0-1 in their first six home games vs. Philadelphia, and also won a U.S. Open Cup tie there.
Coaches record: Jesse Marsch vs. PHI: P4 W2 L2 D0 … Jim Curtin vs. NYR: P4 W2 L1 D1