It was a wonderful game and the largest shutout in Union history. But, from an objective perspective, everything that could go right went right for the Union. For all of those games where the ball hits the post and bounces out or Geiger makes a questionable call against the Union, there were three moments that defined the game: 1. Medunjanin hits a missile through Hamid's arms. 2. Fabinho is not called for a PK (and possibly a second yellow). 3. Acosta does not get the foul call and then gets the red. If Hamid makes the save, if Fabinho is called for a PK (and maybe a second yellow) or if Acosta gets the foul call, it's a very, very different game. Going back to the last two games, the Union are very lucky that Joao Pedro hit both posts and that the Red Bulls couldn't get the shots that beat Blake on frame. Whereas the Union's luck early in the season (e.g. Bedoya hits the crossbar on the PK) was bad, the team's luck has been disproportionately positive recently.
It's MLS, sometimes nothing goes right and sometimes you get all the calls. I don't feel bad because we've been on the other side our fair share of times and obviously all teams need a little bit of luck to start winning some games. Obviously we should still see the holes in our gameplan and our errors, but I'm not going to go back and ruin this one because we got a few calls. The fun thing about team morale and player confidence is that asterisks don't really apply to them. Now let's get 6 points this week (which I think is actually really possible) and float on cloud nine. (Until we pick apart those wins too.)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it tied last years' effort @ New England? Thought they won by the same score (Sap/Marquez/?-threw away my notes/Alberg)
You are correct. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016...n-0-philadelphia-union-4-2016-mls-match-recap Other than that game and the 6-2 win at Toronto, any other 4 goal wins in Union history?
Agree on this. Hamid probably did not get a hand on it for several reasons. First it was probably unexpected and partially screened due to the distance from which the shot was taken. More importantly, that ball definitely knuckled at the last second and was struck with an absurd amount of pace. As a keeper, I can attest that would have been a much more difficult save than it would have looked like if I got a hand to it. Ultimately he should have gotten the save but de not a howler.
I'm definitely critical of this club and they've got a lot to work on, but I don't believe in luck per se. I think the real defining moments were pregame- when Olsen didn't prepare his team, laid out an overly conservative game plan against one of the league's worst and demotivated them AND- hold onto your nuts cause I'm going to praise,ahem, JIM CURTIN. THERE, I SAID IT. He pushed his team forward with a lead and up a man and stood on their throats. Honestly, the first in game adjustment the man has made in four years that was positive. Olsen sucked and Curtin realized he could press an advantage. I don't like playing the luck card because when we lose, and we lose often, it lets those who should be accountable wiggle free due to bad bounces and ref calls. We are our record. We earned it.
Have to agree about the shot - watching at the time I was thinking that was some ugly knuckleball action and the ball had virtually no spin on it. Reminded me of Bob Uecker's quote about knuckleballs, "The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up."
MLS CUP HERE WE COME!!!! Or you could be of the Curtin school of thought where the table doesn't lie unless we're at the bottom of it.