The New York Red Bulls fell to the Philadelphia Union, 2-0, on Saturday night at Subaru Park.
The Union scored twice in the first 25 minutes of the match, the first on a bouncing ball off a corner kick and the second on shot across the goal and into the side netting.
"When you miss the basics, then it's not possible to win against Philly," Head Coach Sandro Schwarz said. "Philly was, especially in their counter press, very well. They were very sharp after second ball, then directly deep. We lost, so many times, the ball. It starts [in] the first five, six minutes when we have the transition moments, when we are passing back, and then not sharp enough, not to have the right focus at the beginning."
Sean Nealis made his 177th appearance for the club across all competitions, which moves him into sole possession of sixth place in franchise history for most appearances by a player.
"Especially in our basic behavior, it was not good," Schwarz said. "First half was not good in our counter press, our reactions, everything in our basic basic behavior. What we need for our game to be sharp, to defend all together -- not only one, two players ... No, not to hope that your teammate is winning the duel. You have to support each other, and to coach each other, to push each other. This is what you need for these games, especially against Philly."
New York will face off against New England Revolution on Wednesday, July 16 at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
"We have to show up and just have intensity, win every duel and play forward," Emil Forsberg said. "We need to be strong, be fast, so I mean just show up and be 110-percent ready for that game. It does not have to be beautiful but I want, we want everybody to be at 100-percent and win that game. We need to win that game, simple as that."
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish, and New York Red Bulls Radio presented by Sports Illustrated in English via the New York Red Bulls app and NewYorkRedBulls.com.
