NEW YORK— Sunday’s showdown in New York City marked the first time interim head coach Ryan Richter had to manage a road match as the boss of the Philadelphia Union in MLS league play, and his squad rose to the occasion in thrilling fashion.

Coming off losing two out of three matches in Leagues Cup, the Union rode a three-match unbeaten streak in league play into Sunday’s contest against a side in NYCFC that they had only defeated twice in the club’s last five meetings.

Given the rotation and comments from Richter following Thursday’s loss to Santos Laguna, Sunday evening’s starting eleven was not really a surprise.

“The main reason was, you know, we turned around Sunday against New York City in a big game, and to try to keep the form that we’ve had in league to keep that going, and we wanted to make sure that we were fresh going into that,” he said when asked about Thursday’s squad rotation.

Andre Blake started in goal after Andrew Rick had been given Leagues Cup duties. The Jamaican has played in 17 of the club’s 19 matches so far this season in league play.

Frankie Westfield got the start at right back with Kai Wagner at left back. The center back pairing was Neil Pierre, who has become a staple in Richter’s back line, starting three of the club’s six matches since his loan at Lyngby and appeared in five of the six matches overall. His partner at center back again was Nathan Harriel.

Jovan Lukic, Danley Jean Jacques, Indiana Vassilev, and Cavan Sullivan patrolled the midfield, with Milan Iloski and Bruno Damiani in the forward role.

On the bench, Andrew Rick, Ezekiel Alladoh, Quinn Sullivan, Jesús Bueno, Ben Bender, Agustin Anello, Alejandro Bedoya, and Jeremy Rafanello made up the reserves for the match

NYCFC got on the board following a Neil Pierre foul on former Union player Andres Perea in the box, awarding the home side a penalty kick. Record signing Bénie Traoré scored his first MLS goal from the spot to put the Pigeons up 1-0 in the 4th minute.

Milan IIoski showed that fighting Philadelphia spirit as he brought a quick response, forcing NYCFC’s keeper Matt Freese to make a diving save to his right. It was the first of several chances for Iloski on the evening, whose scoring streak would ultimately come to an end.

Nathan Harriel picked up a yellow with a challenge on Max Murray in the 16th minute for the Union’s first booking of the match.

Iloski had a run moments later on Freese, but the Union forward’s shot went wide of net. Credit to Freese in that moment as he went big and lloski could have drawn the match up. Iloski had another golden opportunity moments later, when he received a cross from Vassilev, but again, Iloski got himself into a dangerous position only to come away without a goal.

After Cavan Sullivan had a couple attempts and the Union had a corner, NYCFC countered as Luighi forced a spectacular save by Blake in the 41st minute.

NYCFC followed with more pressure, and Lukic picked up a yellow card as he worked to defend. Unfortunately for the Serbian, who was on yellow card accumulation warning, that caution meant he would be missing the next match, against Miami.

As stoppage time was just underway, Indiana Vassilev was called for a handball in the box and NYCFC were awarded their second penalty of the half. Luighi would convert the attempt, giving the Brazilian his first MLS goal and New York the 2-0 lead as both teams headed to the locker rooms at the half.

But, you know what they say about two-goal leads. Philadelphia came out at halftime with purpose, and quickly responded courtesy of a goal from Danley Jean Jacques. Following the set piece from the Wagner, Cavan Sullivan provided the assist as Danley poked the ball home to get the Union back within one.

With renewed belief, the Union battled as the half continued, and finally drew the match level in the 69th minute as Cavan notched his second assist by feeding an unselfish pass to a charging Damiani, who finished the ball into the net to make it 2-2.

Quinn Sullivan subbed on for Vassilev following the goal, and provided even more spark to the surging Philadelphia squad, firing off two attempts before providing Damiani with the ball in the 75th minute in a pivotal moment. It began with a fantastic ball sent forward by Bueno, which was picked up by Quinn. The elder Sullivan then found Damiani in front of the goal, and the Uruguayan striker finished the ball straight into the net to take the 3-2 lead.

For Damiani, whose first half of the season included some struggles, it was an enormous moment. “You could feel the weight come off him in that moment, and tonight’s, like his goal against Necaxa, tonight was two strikers’ goals. Run to the right spot. Be available for your teammate. One touch finish. Bang. Easy business. And then the work that he does outside of that, you know, that I like. I say that always makes the team better,” Richter said.

The Union rode out the rest of the match, including late last-ditch efforts by NYCFC that even had Freese in the fray attempting a header. When the dust settled, the Union had for the second league match in a row come back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and secure a fourth straight win for Richter.

At the end of the night, the Union were in 13th place and only five points away from a playoff position.

“It was a great game to come back in,” Richter said postgame. “Of course, we didn’t start the way that we wanted to, but what I’ve talked about from the beginning with this group: the fighting spirit, the never giving up… to come out in the second half and put a performance like that and get three goals away from home was incredible. So I’m proud of the guys. I’m excited for them for what is next. But this is another huge positive step for us, and just really proud of the players, staff, everyone involved, and another good night.”

Richter was pleased with how his squad stepped up, and the Sullivan brothers proved to be huge. On Cavan, he shared, “He’s the guy that you know, for a young man, that he can accept this in the moment, take it, and then put together what he did in the second half, and then have the unselfish play that he made on the goal on Bruno’s first goal. That’s what makes him different, is this maturity and this mentality.”

Things will not get easier now for Philadelphia as they play host to Inter Miami on Wednesday at Subaru Park. Inter Miami fell to Supporters’ Shield leader Nashville SC on the road Saturday 4-1 behind a brace from Hany Mukhtar. But despite that result, the Union have yet to defeat Inter Miami since Lionel Messi’s arrival in MLS.

That match is set for a 7:30 PM kick off and will be available on Apple TV.

Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.

Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union.