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Union hopes to continue good home form against Chivas

Jun 24, 2011 - 9:43 PM Chester, PA (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Union enters the weekend tied atop the Eastern Conference table with Red Bull New York, and it is the team's form at home that is a big reason why.

The Union is unbeaten in eight games at PPL Park this year, and the club welcomes Chivas USA to the ground on Saturday in hopes of keeping that unbeaten mark alive.

A 0-0 draw against Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday extended the streak, and although Philadelphia was held without a goal for the second successive match, head coach Peter Nowak was pleased with the performance.

"We're finding shots. We cannot ask for more, I think," Nowak said. "It was a good 90 minutes we played. It was not minutes we had like in the RSL game where it was five minutes here, five minutes high-tempo, five minutes, ten minutes, going back and getting back to the shelf and just defend. I think today we played a good 90 minutes overall, which makes me happy after a tough weekend."

The Union dropped a 1-0 contest to Vancouver Whitecaps FC prior to Wednesday's draw, but with Carlos Ruiz back in the lineup after missing four games due to international duty, Nowak will be hoping for better results in front of goal.

Chivas USA enters the game in eighth place in the Western Conference and with just one win in its last six games.

The Goats suffered their second successive defeat last time out, losing 2-1 to FC Dallas, but it was the way the team lost the match that most disappointed head coach Robin Fraser.

"Obviously, we're extremely disappointed. If you look at the flow of the game, we did a pretty decent job of controlling most of the game and to make a few mistakes and let a game like that slip away with absolutely nothing to show for it is extremely disappointing," Fraser said following the loss to Dallas.

The winning goal was scored by Dallas after a mix up in the Chivas defense, and although Fraser's team is still very young, he is not the type of person to use it as an excuse.

"I'm one of these people who expects a lot," Fraser said. "I expected a lot as a player, and certainly as a coach I expect a lot, and there is a side to me that realizes there are growing pains with a young team, but I'm not going to sit here and make excuses. If it's not good enough, it's not good enough."