Chester, PA (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Union will take the PPL Park
pitch against D.C. United on Saturday to usher in a new era.
Head coach Peter Nowak was relieved of his coaching duties Wednesday, ending
his tenure as the club's first ever manager. John Hackworth was named Nowak's
replacement on an interim basis.
The Union also reshuffled their squad during the league's two-week hiatus,
sending striker Danny Mwanga to the Portland Timbers in exchange for striker
Jorge Perlaza.
Philadelphia could use all the help it can get at the moment. The Union sit
second from bottom in the Eastern Conference on eight points and have managed
to score just eight goals, tying them with last-place Toronto FC for the
fewest goals scored this term.
Adding insult to injury, Philadelphia is coming off of a 1-0 loss to Toronto,
a result that handed the Canadian club its first points of the season after an
0-9-0 start.
D.C. United has had a much more enjoyable campaign thus far, leading the
Eastern Conference with 27 points through 15 games. The club is currently
riding a three-game winning streak, its longest since it won four in a row in
June of 2008.
Even though United reached that distinction with a 3-2 defeat of the New
England Revolution on May 26, head coach Ben Olsen still found cause for
disappointment.
"I want to play a different way, and I wish we would've been a little sharper,
but again, I'm looking at the body of three wins at home, which we haven't
done at this club since [June 2008]," Olsen said. "This is positive stuff, and
I'm not downplaying that. Again, I'm maybe just being a little negative; I'm a
little unfulfilled with that game."
D.C. is proving to be a strong team in dead-ball situations. It produced two
goals from set pieces against New England and has now totaled three goals from
corner kicks and two goals from free kicks this season.
"It's very important," said defender Daniel Woolard. "Look at L.A. and how
[David] Beckham serves the ball and how many goals they score from it. I think
Branko can do the same thing for us. He whips a great ball in and, when you
know it's going to be in a good spot, the attacking players put more effort to
get on the end of it."
The Sports Network