After slaying one giant, Kacper Przybylko and the high-flying Philadelphia Union are ready to do the same to another.
Fresh off scoring the game-winner in Saturday’s 3-1 come-from-behind win over reigning MLS Cup champs Atlanta United at a rocking Talen Energy Stadium, Przybylko was asked about welcoming Supporters’ Shield leaders LAFC in their next MLS game on Sept. 14.
“LAFC, I wish you a lot of luck,” Przybylko told reporters. “This is our house. This is our stadium. We have great supporters. And we’re waiting for you guys.”
With 51 points, the Union are currently alone in first place in the Eastern Conference and have more points than anyone in the league besides LAFC. But according to midfielder Haris Medunjanin, who set up the tying goal Saturday, the Union are never in the conversation of MLS elites and that “nobody is counting on us.”
“I think we showed MLS we are not a fraud team,” Medunjanin said. “We showed today we can compete against any team.”
The Union set a franchise record for points in a season and matched the record for wins at 15. More importantly, they moved closer to hosting a playoff game for only the second time in club history.
And as their latest win showed, the Union can do big things in front of their own fans — when the crowd is so raucous that it gives Przybylko “goosebumps," as it did Saturday.
Philly will take a 10-2-3 home record into their showdown with star-studded LAFC in two weeks.
“I talked to you guys early on in the season when you asked how good we were, and I said to circle the Atlanta and LAFC games to tell us,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said. “Because those two are the best teams — New York City as well, and we have them coming in [on Oct. 6 in the regular-season finale]. And then we’ll see what we’re all about.
“But as far as the first big test, we get an A-plus.”
