While Sean Johnson's goalkeeping heroics is likely to be what makes the headlines, the Philadelphia Union had much more to worry about on the night than a couple of brilliant saves.
The Union are breaking records and they're certainly not of a positive nature. The opening goal was the first Philadelphia had conceded in the first 15 minutes of a game all season (more on that later), whereas the Chicago Fire's equalizing goal in stoppage time of the second half was simply the latest in a long line of goals leaked by the Union in the last 15 minutes of matches- a trend dating back to last season.
But it's easy to talk about what Philadelphia did wrong. What did they do right?
Greater crossing accuracy
Despite claims that Christian Maidana's best position is centrally where he can dictate the game for Philadelphia, Tranquillo Barnetta's presence in the team and Maidana's sheer amount of assists from wide positions disputes this claim. The heat map shows his presence darkest on the right wing as well as the left. Furthermore, a team crossing accuracy of 40%, a 13% percent increase compared to Philadelphia's Open Cup match against Chicago earlier in the week can in part be attributed to the team's main target on the night: Fernando Aristigueita. One would think his inclusion would be a case of different player, same story as Philadelphia are stacked with tall, strong #9 type strikers. However, the Venezuelan is better at receiving crosses and better in the air in general than his striking counterpart CJ Sapong, having won three aerials duels but pales in comparison to Sapong who was used out of the position, but whose introduction was beneficial nonetheless.
While his reputation as a poacher style striker was to positive effect earlier in the season when he had three goals, despite good service from midfield being at a premium, the Venezuelan's wastefulness is becoming quite apparent having only managed to put one of his five shots on target. That one of course was his goal.
In comparison, Sebastian Le Toux, who replaced him late on in the second half and also scored, put all three of his shots on target.
Furthermore, part of the job of a traditional number 9 striker is to link up with the midfielders around him and bring them into play. However, Aristigueita's passing was the worst of any Union play bar goalkeeper John McCarthy, with a mere 52.4% completion rate to McCarthy's 50% (having completed one more pass.) In contrast, Le Toux, completed 83.3% of his passes.
Improved Wingplay
Fabinho continues on his unlikely rich vein of form having scored his second goal of the season in all competitions (while also having two assists). Not only is this solid from a left back, but it's exactly the sort of play (and approaching the sort of numbers) Philadelphia were hoping they'd be getting from a fellow left sided player, midfielder Andrew Wenger. But the numbers don't do him justice; overall Fabinho has been the outlet on the wing that was expected from "target winger" Wenger and what they've lacked from right back Ray Gaddis.
However, improvements could be seen in that regard too on the night. Gaddis, who is without a goal or an assist so far this season, has finally made the right back position his own following Curtin's declaration and Sheanon Williams' exit. It wasn't until recent weeks however that he's truly come into his own offensively in this regard. Having completed two crosses, two key passes, and two dribbles, not only is the Indiana born defender improving on his crossing quality but also in his overall offensive decision making. This can be seen most clearly in the run he made during the second half in which he pulled back on the edge of Chicago's box and threaded a pass into the box instead of aimlessly launching a cross into the box. While Johnson saved the subsequent shot, it's the mere decision that spells well for Gaddis.
Substitutions that paid off
More often than not, many fans have a tendency to question the timing or player selection when it comes to Jim Curtin's substitutions. That being said, (in part due to these players having been rested due to playing in the cup earlier in the week), Curtin's subsitutions were spot on in this match. Having been on a yellow card with momentum shifting in Chicago's favor, Warren Creavalle was withdrawn for Michael Lahoud, who was both statistically and objectively a slight upgrade on Creavalle, who was only intended to provide depth and may still be lacking in fitness. Taken off with him was Barnetta, who was dispossessed twice, which proved to be more than any other player on the pitch and did not provide a single key pass. The Swiss International was replaced by Sapong, who despite being played out of position managed one key pass and one shot on target. Finally, Sebastian Le Toux- employed as an out and out forward despite his tendency to drift centrally when playing right midfield, provided the same sort of threat that Fernando had (why yes, they're both tall) but to significantly greater effect (more on that later.)
Punishing Chicago for playing a high line
On a number of occasions, the Union were able to play passes in behind Chicago's defense, particularly looping crosses. While this caused Chicago all sorts of problems as Fernando found himself in good positions in the box, it would have been more effective with a quick forward like Sapong, who is capable of beating the offside trap but also has the dribbling skills to punish Chicago once in that position. Speed and dribbling ability are of course not two of Fernando's strong suites, who despite scoring a goal found himself taking five poor touches, the most of any player on the pitch. Simply put, sometimes Fernando looks plain clumsy in front of goal.
However, Philadelphia were largely punished for the same thing with Kennedy Igboananike making an absolute meal of the Philadelphia defense on and off the counter attack, despite the Union generally being commited to being a tight defense that "sits deep" and invites teams onto themselves. Not so much on the night (granted defense in general was curiously absent). Chicago, however, were generally far too reliant on pace even without the services of David Accam.
Sticking to strategy ultimately paid off... sort of; early on the Union chose to sit back instead of pressing early like they did in the mid week game versus Chicago. While they did this poorly, it was the right decision as evidenced by Chicago's ability to tear holes in the Philadelphia defense on the counter attack, both on the night and earlier in the week. This made it easier for the Union to push more numbers forward on the attack.
Overall, the Union can take positives from a match that's left them largely in an unenviable position in the Eastern Conference. Defensive misgivings and late lapses aside, they have arguably one of the biggest bargains in the league in the form of Christian Maidana, who's catapulted himself to the top of the MLS assist list this season with a second hat trick of assists and is now ahead of superstars and MLS MVP contenders such as Sebastian Giovinco, Benny Feilhaber, and Ethan Finlay.