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RBNY, Union renew acquaintances at PPL Park

Sep 13, 2014 - 2:47 AM Chester, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Red Bull New York and the Philadelphia Union will meet for the third time this season when the two clubs do battle at PPL Park on Saturday.

It is setting up to be a monumental clash as both clubs have a great deal at stake.

New York managed to claim a last-gasp win over D.C. United on Wednesday to climb to 37 points on the season, bringing the club one point clear of Philadelphia.

Lloyd Sam nabbed the winner in the 90th minute to cap New York's dominant display against 10-man United, handing the Red Bulls a second consecutive victory.

The Englishman knows his side will be in for a tough 90 minutes against the Union, but the Red Bulls should be well-motivated given the humiliating 3-1 defeat they suffered at PPL Park on July 16.

"It's the money time in the season," said Sam. "It feels great to get back-to- back wins, and obviously we're going to Philly this weekend. It doesn't get any easier - that's always a tough game over there - but we owe them one, too, from the last time."

New York's defeat of D.C. also pushed the Union down to sixth place in the table and out of the playoff picture, an unfortunate circumstance for Philadelphia given its impressive run of form under interim head coach Jim Curtin.

The Union have dropped just one league game in their last nine outings and most recently defeated Toronto FC twice in the span of a week to complete a run of three straight victories.

"We've had a good run of results and we've also been playing well. Sometimes you play well but don't get the results but we've had both," Union striker Conor Casey said. "Every guy on our roster right now is pulling in the right direction and we just want to keep improving and getting points."

Casey has been firing on all cylinders recently, scoring in two consecutive games. He certainly seems to be flourishing in Philadelphia's new system that stations Casey up top as a lone striker.

Andrew Wenger has also been the beneficiary of a positional switch. The former Montreal Impact player has been deployed on the left flank and has produced a great return, scoring three goals in as many games to bring his season total to six.

"It's different out there on the wing than it is being the high guy in the spot where Conor (Casey) has been," Curtin said of Wenger. "You don't have someone on your back all the time. He's able to get the ball now, focus on just beating one man and going in. He's really embraced that role. When he gets a head of steam running at you, he's as dangerous as anyone in our league."