This past Saturday, the Philadelphia Union traveled to Harrison, New Jersey, to take on the New York Red Bulls. The Philadelphia Union had a thirteen-game unbeaten streak against them going into the game. Likewise, New York was the only unbeaten team at home in MLS and had also given up a league-low 10 goals at home.

But as we know with this rivalry, anything is possible when these two teams match up, and it was certainly the case on Saturday night as the Union shocked the home fans at Red Bull Arena by coming away victorious 2-0. “This rivalry tends to bring out the best in our group,” said head coach Jim Curtin. “It was a big three points. I think we’re all disappointed with losing to a very strong Columbus team at home, but we had a good response tonight.”

When the lineups were announced, the Union went with the normal pairing of Uhre, Baribo, and Gazdag up top, with Jack McGlynn returning to the starting eleven after coming off the bench in Wednesday night’s loss to the Columbus Crew.

The Red Bulls started off fast, creating a cross into the box in the first minute, which Blake saved easily. However, Dante Vanzier’s excellent press almost caused a turnover when Andre Blake tried to clear the ball out of the box.

The Union got on the board in the 4th minute when Danley Jean Jacques found Jack McGlynn with a line-splitting pass. The midfielder then directed the ball to Uhre, who beat Red Bull and former Union backup goalkeeper Carlos Cornell to make it 1-0.

While the Union fan base is mixed on Mikael’s performance (7 goals/5 assists) in league play this year, with him being the highest-paid player on the team, most fans will agree that when the Union involve him early and often, he creates opportunities for himself and his teammates.

“With the way Red Bull plays with Mikael, he’s a weapon because their center backs are brave, and they’ll step on the other side of midfield, which leaves him open in transition,” Curtin said. For what it’s worth, Mikael has now scored 10 or more goals for the Union over the last 3 seasons in all competitions.

The Red Bulls and Union traded blows over the next few minutes, with Andre Blake coming up with some big saves to keep the Union in the game with the lead. Andre proved to be a force on the evening, continuing to show that he remains one of the best keepers in MLS. “I say it 100 times this year,” Curtin echoed. “It’s not a knock on our other goalkeepers, but that’s what makes us who we are. Our back line responds to having him in goal, and that’s when we’ll get the most points, when he’s in there.”

Tai Baribo added his 14th goal in 15 games with a wonderful buildup play by the Union to put them up 2-0 in the first half. Once the initial frenzy of the first 30 minutes slowed down, both teams started settling into the game, and the final 15 minutes of the half turned into a typical Union and Red Bull match, with both teams trying to break each other down and grinding for another goal.

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The Union started flat in the second half, which led to a few opportunities for the Red Bulls to capitalize, including a chance that hit the post and could have put the home team back into the match. “I thought that they had a really great first half, and then I’ll just call it a gutsy second half, where we’re kind of hanging on, and look, you need a little bit of a bounce to go your way to get results on the road,” Curtin said.

The Red Bulls continued to create chances and, in total, hit the crossbar probably 5 times on the night. A few key defensive plays by Andre, Jakob, and Jack Elliott continued to keep them out of the net in the second half and preserve the shutout road win.

One player I would be remiss not to mention is Danley Jean Jacques. Playing all 90 minutes, the Haitian midfielder proved to be a vital assist on the night. “I think you see the good defensive instincts, but then you can also see composure in tight spaces. Some of the passes he played into Dani, you’re starting to see some of the relationships come through—balls he played to Jack. I think he did a great job, not only defensively but also playing forward. I think we’ll all talk about the athleticism. I’m actually going to be curious to see when the physical data comes back, as we track how far each guy runs. I think it’s going to be off the charts for him.”

The win moved the Union to 4-4-5 on the road this season and to 30 points overall in league play, just one point out of the 9th place position currently occupied by Atlanta United. The Union will now face a tough remaining 7-game stretch to end the season. Up next is another road contest against Inter Miami, with Lionel Messi likely to make a return by that point, followed by another Wednesday night showdown with NYCFC on the road before they return home. Points in either of these contests will be a big boost as the Union try to climb the table and get into the playoffs.

Make sure to keep an eye out for episode 100 of The One Team We Agree On podcast coming out soon, as well as some Union II content dropping later this week or next.