Union can't solve Red Bulls again

Harrison, NJ – The Philadelphia Union lost a 2-1 contest against the New York Red Bulls Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena, as New York forward Thierry Henry provided the game winner after forward Conor Casey had equalized for the Union in the 63rd minute.

“I don’t think we did what we needed to do [to walk away with a point], but in the end it’s still tough to swallow,” said Union manager John Hackworth. “We’re going to be attack-oriented. We’re going to go for wins on the road. That’s what we were trying to do. It’s unfortunate that we fell behind before we made a couple changes there. It’s a frustrating, frustrating loss.”

After Dax McCarty scored for New York 10 minutes into the second half, Conor Casey equalized in the 63rd minute, just two minutes after entering the game for forward Sebastien Le Toux. Casey got on the end of a long throw in by Sheanon Williams and directed a header on frame and past New York goalkeeper Luis Robles.

Thierry Henry then provided the game winner in the 81st minute, giving New York its first win of the season and the Union their second loss of the 2013 campaign. In addition, the Union fell to 0-6 all-time at Red Bull Arena. However, Philadelphia still sits squarely in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, tied with Houston on six points (2-2-0, MLS; 3-2-0 overall).

It was a tale of two halves, as the Union kept the Red Bulls attack at bay on a few occasions in the first half. In the first half, the Red Bulls had seven attempts on goal, but zero were on target as thwarted chances from the Union defense coupled with New York inability to put a shot on frame killed their chances.

However, the second half saw a much different story as the Red Bulls found pockets in behind the defense and closed out with a goal from Henry in the 81st minute, taking a ball down in the box and slotting it past Zac MacMath to the far post.

He found himself free behind our two center backs, trapped it with his thigh and just turned and hit it,” said MacMath, postgame of Henry. “It’s tough because all the guys that played today were tough and put a lot of fight into it. To give up a goal like that and to go down like that late is very tough on the whole mentality of the team.”

The Union are on the road again next weekend as the club travels to Columbus, Ohio for an Eastern Conference matchup against Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium.

BOX SCORE

New York Red Bulls 2, Philadelphia Union 1

Saturday, March 30; 3:30 p.m. ET

Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ

SCORING SUMMARY

NY: McCarty (Steele), 55’

PHI: Casey (Williams), 63’

NY: Henry (Luyindula) 81’

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

PHI: Casey (caution), 92’

UNION STARTING 11

MacMath, Williams, Okugo, Parke, Gaddis, Carroll, Lahoud, M. Farfan, Cruz (Hoppenot 61’), McInerney (Daniel 80’), Le Toux (Casey 61’)

NEW YORK STARTING 11

Robles, Kimura, Olave, Holgersson, Pearce, Alexander (Sam 73'), McCarty, Juninho, Steele, Cahill (Henry 59'), Luyindula

Referee: Silviu Petrescu, Joe Fletcher, Daniel Belleau, Daniel Fitzgerald