CHESTER, Pa. – The Philadelphia Union looked right at home in their first match in the renamed Talen Energy Stadium on Sunday afternoon, shutting down the New England Revolution on a cold, windy day by a score of 3-0. Andre Blake held a phenomenal clean sheet and C.J. Sapong had a brace to spark the production for Philly.
At his postgame press conference, Sapong said it "Feels good to open the account – I’m always extra critical. I could have had four today, but it’s all good."
Blake, who left immediately after the game to join the Jamaican national team, said he feels that the more he plays, "the more [he] gets positive results."
Coach Jim Curtin put it even simpler: "Andre Blake is good at soccer."
New England had trouble catching up, as they went a man down in the first half whilst already trailing 2-0. Lee Nguyen had a few close attempts at goal but none were able to beat Blake.
First Half Dominated By Union
The chances were few in the opening minutes, with Philadelphia controlling possession but failing to connect on balls over-the-top to C.J. Sapong. But the Union were the first to get a shot off, and on the first attempt, Philly went up 1-0.
Fabinho released down the left wing and slotted a ball into penalty area traffic towards Sapong. The Revs defenders failed to get in front of the striker and he turned and fired a left-footed shot right by Bobby Shuttleworth to put the Union a goal up as 'doop' cheers rained down from the Sons of Ben at Talen Energy Stadium.
Andre Blake made a great save in net for Philadelphia a few minutes later in the 22nd minute, diving to his left to deny a scorcher from New England's Lee Nguyen. There was a bit of a scare as the Jamaican was slow to get up, but he rose right to his feet to snag the ensuing corner as it crossed his area.
The lead doubled and things only got better for the Union as the first half progressed. Sapong received an identical ball to the one on his first goal, this time from Warren Creavalle, and he shot left as the ball trickled through the grasp of Shuttleworth to cue the 'doop' chants and make it 2-0 for the home side.
"It was great to finally come home and feel energy from the home fans and get a great result in front of them," said Creavalle.
With Chris Pontius' brace last week at the Columbus Crew, this is the first time the Union have had back-to-back braces since June of 2014, when Conor Casey was able to score two goals against Chivas USA and the Vancouver Whitecaps two straight weeks.
Nguyen had another chance for the Revolution on a free kick above the box. He fired a laser of a ball to the top left side of the net, and his shot struck the left post and bounced across the goal line, proceeding then carom of the right post before rolling out and stunningly leaving NE empty-handed.
"I saw it hit the post, and then I didn’t see it, didn’t know what was going on and all of sudden it was in Andre Blake’s hands," said Nguyen after the game. "That’s when I figured it must’ve hit the other post."
New England's chances were further shrunk a few minutes later, when a two-footed challenge by Je-Vaughn Watson was whistled and blown down for a straight red card. With the Revs down a man, it was only a matter of time before Philadelphia got another chance at goal, and they did just that as stoppage time began.
"Every week, we’re talking about something that the referee does and it’s just starting to become a little bit exhausting," said Revs coach Jay Heaps. "The studs were up. I didn’t fault the referee for that. I faulted him for the 2 penalty kicks."
Ilsinho handled atop the left side of the box, and as he pushed a ball through the feet of a pair of New England defenders, the gap between his opponents closed and he was tripped up, drawing the ref's whistle as Nima Saghafi pointed to the spot. Ilsinho stepped up to take the penalty, but his PK was read easily by Shuttleworth and saved left, keeping the score at 2-0 to the man-up Union as the half time whistle was blown.
More Of The Same As Man-Down Revs Can't Get Through In Second Half
Philly kept the jets running for the second half, and Chris Pontius had a good chance at goal in the 52nd minute, the first major one of the half. Roland Alberg fed him a ground ball across the pitch to the middle-left of the box, and Pontius, taking a big touch to his left, fired left at goal, only to be denied by a fine Shuttleworth save near-post.
Pontius had another point-blank attempt from the left half of the penalty area in the 64th minute, with a great through ball by Sapong leaving him with a one-on-one one-time attempt against Shuttleworth. The midfielder got it by Shuttleworth, but his underwhelming attempt rolled way wide to the left. It may have been the best overall opportunity to score all day.
A scramble in the box from a 74th-minute free kick swung in gave Philadelphia a brief worry, as subbed-on Juan Agudelo's initial header was blocked, but then his volley came through clearly, just sailing over the net on a lobbed trajectory for a goal kick.
The Union countered right away with a close strike of their own, as substitute Sebastien Le Toux had a right-footed opportunity from the right side of the box in the 76th minute. Le Toux flew into his attempt, but he couldn't control and it sailed over the bar and out of play.
Penalty number two came for Philadelphia in the 78th minute, as commotion from corner-brought chances led to a ball up top for Sapong, who leapt for a header and drew the foul on Jose Goncalves. Le Toux, a more routine PK-taker, stepped up to take, but Shuttleworth denied the Union once again, handing the forward his first-ever non-goal from a penalty take.
New England had a real hard time figuring out Philadelphia's defense, but got a shot off from close-ish range in the 88th minute. Agudelo got a solid feed from Nguyen, but his low shot across goal was parried away by a diving Andre Blake.
Right after coming on for man of the match C.J. Sapong in the 90th, Fabian Herbers had a clear shot at goal, but it was deflected out for a corner by Shuttleworth. The Union maintained offensive possession as the four minutes of stoppage time ran out, and Brian Carroll let one go from distance but had it fly just over the bar.
Philadelphia need to tack on just one more score and did just that two minutes into stoppage time, as a low ball came past Shuttleworth and to the feet of Le Toux, who casually flicked the ball into the net for the Union's third score of the night.
The game ended moments later, the result holding at 3-0 to give the Union their second win of the year. Philly is now tied with the Montreal Impact for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
"[The fans] always affect the win and give us that twelfth man mentality. They come with the energy and the noise and we wanted to show up for our first game of the season," C.J. Sapong told VAVEL after his two-goal performance.