Two storylines precede tonight’s Columbus Crew SC (4-4-4) matchup with the Philadelphia Union (3-8-3), as the Black & Gold travel to PPL Park to face a hungry Union squad that’s arguably playing some of their best soccer right now.
The last time these two teams met, Crew SC cruised to a 4-1 win at MAPFRE Stadium. The Black & Gold went into halftime with a sizeable 3-0 lead and proceeded to cap off another home victory, thanks to a brace from midfielder Ethan Finlay and additions from forward Kei Kamara and midfielder Justin Meram.
Tonight has a different scenario in hand, as Crew SC will face a Phildelphia team that hopes to even the score. Despite Crew SC’s success against Philadelphia, Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter certainly isn’t treating this match any differently.
“Philly’s always a tough team to play against,” Berhalter said. “We always have a difficult time with them, and I think it’s going to be a competitive team.”
The Black & Gold enter tonight’s match having won four straight regular season games against the Union, with the last loss dating back to June 5, 2013, when the Union shutout Crew SC 3-0.
Bringing it back to modern times, Philadelphia is ready to put a rough start in the rearview mirror. After going winless in their first five matches, and winning one in their first eleven, the Union have stepped up as of late, winning two out of their last three matches.
The improvement in play has not gone unnoticed, and Berhalter expects nothing less than a tough matchup.
“[Philadelphia Head Coach] Jim [Curtin] has got his guys certainly playing better, and if you’ve watched them, they’re much better now. So, it’s going to be a hard game.”
Midfielder Ethan Finlay expects a different side of the Union this time around.
“I expect a team that we’ve seen most recently,” Finlay said. “They’ve been playing some really good soccer and they’ve been playing like they have nothing to lose. So, I expect a team that’s going to play hard and it’ll be a tough challenge at [PPL Park].”
Despite the Union’s improvements, Finlay looks to bring the same mindset as the last matchup against Philadelphia-- one that included two goals and an assist for the midfielder from Minnesota.
“I think it’s a team that we’re very familiar with,” Finlay said. “Same mentality, we understand how they like to play and what they’re going to show us defensively, and we think we match up well against them."
As for the second road game in four days, Berhalter maintains that the approach is the same, just a different site.
“We want to be aggressive, we want to be attacking-oriented. We want to stick to our style and hopefully we’ll be able to do that,” said Berhalter. “We know in Philly, it’s not the easiest place to play. So, they’re going to give us all the resistance that we can handle.”
The battle between these Eastern Conference clubs is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
