The US Open Cup win over Chicago Fire and the wild road victory over New England Revolution were important for confidence in early August, but the shutout of New York City FC, at the time one of the unchallenged top three teams in the Eastern Conference, was Philadelphia Union’s grand opening. That was the moment all the whispers could finally become shouts (although Bobby Warshaw had been banging the drum for some time, to be fair).
But that big 2-0 win almost didn’t happen.
In the second minute of that big home showdown, NYC’s gameplan worked as well as it would all match.