Union Travel To KC For Critical Match
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Philadelphia Union are in desperate need of a victory. As they get ready to visit Sporting Kansas City on Friday night, the Union sit winless in their last five matches. This slump has dropped them down to a tie for sixth in the Eastern Conference with 39 points. The top five teams make the playoffs.
Players like forward Antoine Hoppenot don't have to be told this is crunch time.
"Five games left, so every point matters now," Hoppenot tells KYW Newsradio. "We need to make up a few points now so it will be important that we go into Kansas City, give them a game and come out with a result."
The biggest reason for the Union's recent skid - a complete lack of offense. During this five game winless streak, Philadelphia has scored a total of one goal. And that came in a 5-1 blowout loss at New England back on August 25th.
"Every game you just really want to get a goal, you really want the offense to be clicking," Hoppenot says. "It's tough to be going game after game not being able to get a goal. The forwards have been doing a good job of trying to stay calm and just finishing during practice. We feel confident that if we get an opportunity to get a goal this weekend we'll be able to put it in the back of the net."
Antoine Hoppenot Interview
Sporting Kansas City sits second in the East with 48 points and their stadium is one of the more hostile environments for visitors in MLS.
"It is," Hoppenot says. "They have a great stadium and the fans down there are really passionate, so it's always tough to go down there and get a result. I think we've been doing well on the road this year in hostile environments. I think we'll be doing a great job and I think we'll have a good chance of getting a result."
Philadelphia opened the season against Sporting Kansas City, dropping a 3-1 decision back on March 2nd.
The two teams will get underway at 8:00pm on Friday night.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
