CHESTER, PA -- Maurice Edu had a goal called back in the 27th, and then had his penalty saved just five minutes later, however C.J. Sapong was finally able to break through for Philadelphia in the 69th minute and put his sixth goal of the season past Sounders FC keeper Stefan Frei to rack up a full three points for Union.

Seattle were without their joint top goal scorers Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins on Wednesday night, forcing manager Sigi Schmid to play a starting eleven that featured a Major League Soccer-debuting Jimmy Ockford and a load of S2 regulars on its lines, front and back.

Stefan Frei played a solid yet conservative match in goal, as he stopped all shots but the one Sapong header, which deflected off the Swiss keeper into the net. Frei seemed hesitant to attack balls in his area that did not come within a very close proximity of him, and that sort of stubbornness caught up to him on that second half winner.

The relative inexperience and lack of chemistry showed through clearly for the Raving Green. Oniel Fisher and Ockford had never started for Seattle's MLS affiliate, and with a rotating crew of center backs that featured Zach Scott and Dylan Remick on Wednesday evening, it was evident that Sigi Schmid's defense were not on the same page with each other and with keeper Stefan Frei.

Height of the defenders also played a factor in this contest, as many simple crosses to the box turned into prime opportunities due to the incapacity of the back line to get a head on the ball. Jimmy Ockford at 6'1" was the tallest in the group, and while the center and full backs combined to average a height of almost six feet, their spacing and presence of mind was not up to the task of continually clearing crosses and lobs struck in by Philadelphia.

27 minutes in, a corner was whipped into the Seattle penalty area, but instead of a clearing header being made, the ball carried on the Union captain Maurice Edu, who tapped the ball into the net to seemingly put Philly up 1-0. However, Andrew Wenger was questionably called for a foul on goalkeeper Frei. When asked postgame whether he was expecting a foul call in that situation, he adamantly and irately responded with a powerful "yes."

It almost seemed like karma was on Philly's side five minutes later, when a penalty was called on Seattle after Dylan Remick gave Wenger a high boot to the face in the penalty area. But the soccer gods were not done speaking yet. Stefan Frei stellarly dove in front of an Edu penalty attempt to keep the scoreboard blank.

Seattle were unable to muster a palpable attacking opportunity for the majority of the match. In the 12th minute, Gonzalo Pineda made a decent effort at an electric right-footed strike, but his attempt went just wide. The real chances starting coming in the very late ticks on the game clock for Sounders FC. Lamar Neagle rushed a turnaround shot from inside the box in the 65th, and the best chance came in the 89th minute when Darwin Jones' right-footed strike just barely sailed wide of the right pocket of the net. Seattle ended up with a mere two shots on target in the match, a big contributor to the eventual loss to bottom-dwelling Philadelphia.

"We only have one forward, so it changes your attacking plans," said manager Sigi Schmid. "Neagle’s played every minute of every game for us in this run, because we haven’t had any other forwards, so in fairness to Lamar, he’s dead on his feet right now. We don’t have Barrett, we don’t have Martins, we don’t have Dempsey, obviously, and that’s a lot of quality to be missing."

After numerous crosses were minimally dealt with by the inexperienced Sounders back line, a lob in for C.J. Sapong cleanly was headed goalwards in minute 69. Stefan Frei flung his body in front of the scoring attempt, but the ball caromed off of Frei and up into the back of the net to at last make for a decisive result.

"We were too loose on the goal," declared Schmid.

This match had a lot of chippy physicality involved, as numerous players including Aaron Kovar forced extended stoppages in play by remaining on the ground after rough challenges or duels with their opponents. The only bookings given were yellow cards to Seattle's Dylan Remick (30') and Zach Scott (49'). Sounders were the obvious instigators and aggressors in this regard, as the Raving Green racked up 12 fouls to the Union's four.

The way Philadelphia were able to stick with their attacking sequences and create corners and other cross opportunities into the box provided the Union with the advantage of being able to tire out Seattle. The Sounders back line were forced to make a whopping 36 clearances (to Philadelphia's 11) and Stefan Frei had to make four crucial saves. Once Philadelphia scored a goal, they enabled Sounders to have more room and time to make decisions and distribute to keep possession, which is why Seattle just barely eked out the possession battle advantage.

The Union just made the few key defensive stops they absolutely needed to make. Philadelphia prevented breakaway shot attempts by converting open-field tackles, and then won more duels to create counterattack opportunities of their own.

"Philly’s a really good team, and great stadium, great fans to be playing in front of, but uh, it’s just an unfortunate result," said Sounders newcomer Aaron Kovar. "Great opportunity tonight, but an unfortunate result. I thought we really worked hard and battled."

This loss is the second in five days for Sounders FC, and the impact of the front line absences has really been placed in the spotlight. Seattle now stay at 29 points, and now through 17 matches, are dead even with Vancouver Whitecaps FC atop the Western Conference. And more fatigue will ensue, as another Cascadia rivalry match against Portland Timbers comes on Sunday. Seattle may have to brace for impact on their slide down the Western Rankings.

Philadelphia are still out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and now have racked up 18 points through their 18 contests played.

Note: Three Sounders made their first-ever starting appearances in Major League Soccer. Aaron Kovar and Oniel Fisher had already debuted but never started, while Jimmy Ockford played his first minutes as a MLS footballer for Sounders after making S2 appearances.