Union Team Manager Nowak safisfied with emphatic win over Chicago Fire

Posted Sunday, May 22, 2011 by

The Philadlephia Union may not be scoring goals in bunches this season, but in finally getting over the one-goal hump in the 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday, the team has something to build on.

Team Manager Peter Nowak was pleased with getting the second goal but was particularly happy with the effort of his players for the entire 90 minutes, especially coming off of two tough road losses.

"They compete," said Nowak after the match. "It was different than Dallas, it was different than Portland. My hats off to them. They had a tough week after the loss to Dallas. We spent a lot of time discussing the issues that cost us points and today we should have scored more goals. A win is a win though and three points is three points."

Fueled by two fantastic strikes by Michael Farfan and Carlos Ruiz, the Union piled on the misery for a Chicago side which finds itself even more rooted to the bottom portion of the Eastern Conference table.

As he normally does though, Nowak insisted that his team won't relax after the result and will continue to train at the highest level ahead of the match at BMO Field this weekend.

"We’re going to train tomorrow and go back to work as we have a tough game in Toronto coming up," said Nowak of the week ahead. "We’re not going to rest or take the foot off the peddle right now after getting three points. We have to continue to work as this is a crucial point in the season. This part of the season, the middle part, because the mental part is vital in how we approach the final part of the season."

In the end though, the result was a win and Philadelphia again finds itself at the top of the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Contrary to last season's tough beginning, the Union are getting points early and often, something that is certainly pleasing Nowak.

"It was a good step forward…especially when you score two goals for the first time," said Nowak of the Union's gaudy scoreline. "We still have a lot of things to improve, but in this one we found a way to win and that is the most important thing."