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NederlandSecond place in the Eastern Conference is within reach for the Philadelphia Union on Sunday when they welcome FC Cincinnati to Subaru Park for their final regular-season home fixture of 2021.
The Union come into this match two points behind Nashville SC for second place, drawing Toronto 2-2 in midweek, while the Orange-and-Blue are doomed to finish another season in dead last in MLS.
Match preview
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It has been a complicated campaign to dissect for the Supporters' Shield winners from a year ago, who at times look like a contending team and, in other instances, appear quite ordinary.
Since July, the Boys in Blue have not won more than two consecutive games, but at the same time, they have not hurt themselves too severely, never losing successive matches all year.
With two games remaining and a playoff berth already assured, the Union are sitting around the position that most of us expected them to be in the Eastern Conference, although their road to get here is probably not what many would have seen coming.
The biggest issue that Jim Curtin needs to address with his players is their inability to close out games in which they are leading, dropping eight points from winning positions in the second half of their last four encounters.
From their final match in June until now, they have left 19 points on the table versus teams who are either eliminated or currently out of the playoffs.
They are an ordinarily rock-solid defensive unit who are difficult to break down, although Philly have been better at home in that department than on the road, collecting three straight clean sheets at Subaru Park but conceding seven goals in their last three away games.
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Finishing in the basement of MLS in their first two campaigns, one would have thought that things could only go up for Cincinnati, but once again, they have proven us all wrong.
It would take too long to go through everything that the Orange-and-Blue have done poorly in 2021, but the constant dysfunction, numerous new additions and a handful of different formations have done little to reverse their fortunes in year three.
Even a coaching change has not helped them, in fact, they have probably been worse under interim boss Tyrone Marshall than with Jaap Stam, losing seven straight with the Jamaican in charge and conceding 15 goals in their last three matches.
At this stage of the season, perhaps the only thing that they can salvage is knowing that if they can tighten up defensively in their final two games, they might be able to avoid matching or beating their regular-season record for goals conceded from 2019 (75) but allowing 70 goals in a campaign, which they have thus far in 2021, is by no means an accomplishment.
There are some good young pieces to this team in the midfield and at forward, but they need to be put into spots where they can succeed and that has not been the case usually for the likes of Brenner, Luciano Acosta and Yuya Kubo.
Gerard Nijkamp, the now-former general manager, had $20 million to spend heading into this campaign, not to mention the fact that they had the number one and two overall draft picks in 2019 and 2021, so there is no reason why this team should not be taking even baby steps in the right direction, and if they are not careful they could unintentionally create a culture of players who are comfortable with losing.
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Team News
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Sergio Santos helped the Union claim a single point on Wednesday, scoring the equaliser with 13 minutes remaining, his sixth of the campaign, while Alejandro Bedoya scored his third of the year, which ties him with Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner and Daniel Gazdag.
Ilsinho and Alvas Powell have hamstring issues, while Cory Burke, who is third in scoring for Philly with four goals in 2021, is out with an ankle injury.
Paxten Aaronson got the winner the last time the Union faced Cincinnati earlier this month in a 2-1 win, his second of the year, with the other goal coming courtesy of leading goalscorer Kacper Przybylko.
Brandon Vazquez became the first player in the history of FC Cincinnati to score in three consecutive games, while Brenner became the all-time leader in goals for this franchise in his inaugural year with the club, notching his eighth of the campaign on Wednesday.
Kenneth Vermeer made his first start in goal since September 4, conceding six times on the eight shots that Nashville fired his way, replacing Przemyslaw Tyton, who had allowed nine goals in his last two outings against the Chicago Fire and Inter Miami.
Maikel van der Werff has a sports hernia, Beckham Sunderland is out with a concussion, Gustavo Vallecilla is questionable with a hamstring issue and Luciano Acosta will not be available because of a yellow card suspension.
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Freese; Wagner, Elliott, Glesnes, Findlay; Flach, McGlynn, Aaronson; Monteiro, Przybylko, Santos
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Vermeer; Bailey, Cameron, Gyau, Castillo; Kubo, Scott, Ordonez, Barreal; Vazquez, Brenner
We say: Philadelphia Union 2-0 FC Cincinnati
The Union have won four straight at Subaru Park while never losing a regular-season encounter against Cincy, and given the form of the Orange-and-Blue right now, Philly should not have a problem putting a couple of goals past that shaky defence.
Regardless of how this season ends, Cincinnati continue to sink lower and lower, and you have to wonder what the morale will be like in their final two games, knowing that they are guaranteed to finish last in the league with very little progress made in three years.
