The Union cruised to a 3-1 victory Wednesday night over USL side Harrisburg City Islanders. The Union move on to the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup to play a team To Be Determined.
The Islanders set up to defend from the start. They didn’t necessarily sit in to defend, but did exceptionally well to keep a tight line. The space between the last defender and forward was never more than 25-30 yards when the Union had the ball. But the Islander tactics fell apart after the opener.
The scoring opened with a long range goal by Derrick Jones. Islander keeper Sean Lewis looked wrong-footed, and reached late on the shot, as Jones’s curling shot crept into the far corner.
Once that goal went in the Islanders couldn’t just stick to the plan, and had to come out of its shell. The Union began to hit on the counter shortly thereafter, finding holes throughout the Islander defense and creating dangerous opportunities. The Union ended up doubling the lead in the 32nd minute, through CJ Sapong, showing its dominance.
At 2-0 the Islanders seemed to come to life, needing to score. A few good bits of play brought to life the Islander attack, culminating in a well played goal to from Johnny Mendoza to half the scoreline.
But after that goal, the Islanders lost the spark, and its attack floundered. Loose passes set the Union on easy counter attacks, and gave Union attackers easy attacks.
Between Jay Simpson, Marcus Epps, CJ Sapong and Roland Alberg the Union attackers began to plow through the Islander midfield, isolating its backline. Epps put the icing on the cake with a nice 1v1 finish after being played in by Haris Medunjanin.
Looking at the Islanders, they had the tools to attack the Union, but failed to utilize them. Forward Pedro Riveiro had the size and hold up play to combine in between the lines. Johnny Mendoza and Paul Wilson seemed the most likely to link up there, and did so once to great affect, but outside the one play failed to make runs past Riveiro, isolating the big man. Without the help from his midfielders, Riveiro failed to connect, and was out on an island for most of the game.
The Islanders backline was strong as a unit, but after the first two goals went in, the midfield failed to connect with the defenders, and when isolated against players like Sapong and Simpson, the Islander defense had not chance to keep a low scoreline.
The game ended at a trickle, with both teams letting the foot off the gas as the clock wound down. The last 15 minutes was sluggish from both sides tactically, as 1v1 battles took center stage. For the Union it was exactly as it wanted, using its superior players in situations where they can succeed.
Philadelphia Union
US Open Cup
