Crew-Union Preview
The Philadelphia Union are unbeaten in seven straight and have yet to lose at home as they prepare to meet a club that is winless on the road.
They have already beaten Columbus Crew SC and look to duplicate that effort Wednesday night, ensuring they will remain on top of the Eastern Conference for the majority of June.
Philadelphia (5-3-5) is one of the league's major surprises after tying for the second-lowest point total a season ago. The Union have 20 points to lead the East, and three from this contest will mean that they'll stay in first when the league breaks between June 3-17 due to Copa America.
That tournament has left clubs short-handed this week. The Union will have to start someone in goal other than Andre Blake for the first time since he is with Jamaica. John McCarthy or Matt Jones will be in his place.
Philadelphia is enjoying a 2-0-5 stretch after a 1-all tie at West-leading Colorado on Saturday. Brian Carroll tied it in 92nd minute as the Union avoided their first loss since April 16 and capped a two-game road stretch that began with last Wednesday's 2-all draw against Orlando.
"I'm happy for the resilience that my group showed, difficult going on the road to Orlando on the turf in the heat and coming here at altitude to get points in both places showed a lot of character and grit," coach Jim Curtin said.
The Union could welcome back midfielder Vincent Nogueira, who has missed the last three games due to various injuries.
Philadelphia is 4-0-2 at home while Columbus is 0-3-3 on the road.
The Crew (3-4-5) usually enjoy success in this matchup with a 10-5-1 mark, although they were beaten 2-1 on March 12. Chris Pontius scored twice for the Union, who were outshot 19-8.
"That was a strange game in that we conceded a goal right at halftime, I thought we were unlucky not be up 1-0 even though we weren't playing great," coach Gregg Berhalter said. "And then in the second half, we also should have scored a couple goals. So we feel like normally that performance is good enough to get us something out of that game."
Columbus had star forward Kei Kamara at that time, but he was traded to New England on May 12. The Crew have two draws and a victory since that deal, beating Real Salt Lake 4-3 on Saturday.
Ola Kamara, not related to Kei Kamara, recorded a hat trick for his first goals in MLS to earn league player of the week honors. Ola Kamara was not with the Crew for the first meeting.
Justin Meram had two assists Saturday to give him five, tying him for fourth in the league.