Three things we learned from the Philadelphia Union’s win over the New England Revolution

It appears that the Philadelphia Union is back to its winning ways.

With a statement win over the New England Revolution on Saturday night, the Union improved to fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 21 points to its name. With a strong victory in the rearview mirror, let’s dive into what we took away from the rivalry match at Subaru Park.

Daniel Gazdag can score away from the mark 

If Philadelphia has missed one thing from any one player this year, it has been non-penalty kick goals from Daniel Gazdag. However, the midfielder changed that on Saturday night with this beauty from outside the penalty area.

The Hungarian Harden strikes!#DOOP
pic.twitter.com/MVOahUG9Nl

— Philadelphia Soccer Now (@phlsoccernow) May 21, 2023

It’s hard to not see this as a potential turning point for Gazdag, who has produced often lackluster numbers this season. It’s great to see one of the Union’s designated players get involved and set himself up for success down the road.

Gazdag aside, the entirety of the Union’s offense looked strong on Saturday. Each of the three players that spent time at the No. 9 position (Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre and Chris Donovan) registered a goal or an assist. Add Gazdag’s brace to the mix (and Uhre’s drawn penalty call), and it makes for a really nice outing for the Union.

A backline stronger than Eddie Hall

Against D.C. United, we praised Andre Blake for making several good stops in goal. We will not do the same for the match against New England. Why? Because in the Union’s shutout win, Blake made zero saves.

The Union held its opponents to zero shots on goal, a solid feat even against a squad that was missing one of its key attacking pieces. The Revolution generated by .7xG on the night, but on their eight four shots, Union defenders were there to block four. It was a strong outing from a group that showed overall success.

The Union is so back

Wondered what prime Philadelphia Union soccer looks like in 2023? The second half of Saturday night mat have been just that. A three-goal half is some beautiful stuff, and the quality of play was great. The Union have scrapped out wins, but now they might really be earning them. It isn’t all roses and dasies from here on, but it looks a lot better for Philadelphia fans.

A brief sidenote on the group as a whole: FC Cincinnati is currently dominating the Eastern Conference with 30 points to their name through 13 games played. Philadelphia has scored just one goal fewer than Cincinnati (21-20) and is tied with the Suppoters Shield leaders in goals against (14). Sure these, statistics aren’t the most impressive, but Philadelphia is right up there with the rest of them. Don’t count out the Union.