The Philadelphia Union traveled to RFK Stadium to take on fellow Eastern Conference side, D.C. United on Saturday night in a match with major playoff implications and plenty of surprises.
Chances exchanged early on
It was DC United with the first chance of the match when Lloyd Sam's cross found the head of Patrick Mullins in the box for some easy catching practice for Philadelphia's Andre Blake. The chances flew both ways in the early moments of the match when Fabinho intricately dribbled past several DC defenders before putting a low cross into the box in the 11th minute but Steve Birnbaum cleared the ball before Fabian Herbers could get a foot to it.
Possession pays off for DC
Much to the surprise of the Philadelphia defense, DC left back Taylor Kemp found himself running at defenders before launching a rocket into the back of the net to put DC in the lead 15 minutes in. The goal, albeit surprising, was the culmination of a period of quality possession for United early on in the match.
Philadelphia fight back
In true Philadelphia fashion, the fight came after going down a goal. C.J. Sapong first dribbled through several defenders before laying off the ball to Ilsinho who had his shot blocked in the 25th minute. Then with Sapong as the danger man, he saw his header go just wide of goal following a corner in the 27th minute.
DC United could have found themselves 2-0 in front due to the high line of the Union defense right before the end of the first half when Luciano Acosta saw Patrick Mullins making an excellent run in behind the Philadelphia defense. However, the New Orleans born forward but his shot well high of goal much to the relief of Philadelphia fans.
Much of the first half would see some rather lackluster attacking from both sides as a result of poor passing. Some stop and start play also occured due to injury concerns for players on both sides including the forced substitution of Brian Carroll through injury. However, the first half would end with a bang as Tranquillo Barnetta saw his rocket of a free kick from 30 meters out beat Bill Hamid and land with grace into the back of the net to level the match on the stroke of half time.
Second half blues
Early goings in the second half continued the trend of sluggish offense for the Eastern Conference rivals until Fabian Herbers played Barnetta in on the overlap whose cross found the feet of Sapong but a piece of excellent goalkeeping. Good defensive pressure saw the score remain level in 50th minute.
Lloyd Sam saw his shot cleared off the line by Ken Tribbett in dramatic fashion in the 55th minute but the Englishman was revealed to be offside regardless.
Philadelphia complete the comeback?
A piece of hustle and a brilliantly played through ball saw Ilsinho find former DC United midfielder Chris Pontius with plenty of space in the box. Pontius made no mistake from several yards out as he slotted home the ball to give Philadelphia the lead in the 57th minute.
Image Courtesy of Drew Hallowell/Getty Images North America)
Despite plenty of creative play following the goal from Philadelphia, neither team seemed to be able to put a shot on goal through much of the second half. The best post-goal opportunity falling to CJ Sapong whose header from a Barnetta corner was caught with ease by Bill Hamid.
DC blitz the Union defense late on
DC sought to respond late on as Kennedy Igboananike found Lamar Neagle in the box but the former Seattle Sounders man couldn't put his shot on target. DC's chances of recovering a point from the match looked slimmer with just five minutes to go in the second half.
United thought they'd equalized with just a few seconds left to go as Julian Buscher's free kick found the feet of Patrick Nyarko. Howeve, the former Chicago Fire man was well offside despite putting the ball in the back of the net. The move would be a piece of strong foreshadowing.
Andre Blake would be the hero late on keeping out Igobananike, Birnbaum, and Neagle in quick succession. More defensive heroics would be necessary as deep in stoppage time it would be Barnetta with the clutch block to keep United off the board.
However, it wasn't to be as Philadelphia insistence on sitting back and managing the game cost them when Steve Birnbaum's header found the back of the net from the corner, showing exactly why the US international is getting looks from Europe.
Philadelphia would finally come to life with seconds to go in stoppage time but Bill Hamid would be up to the challenge, saving Keegan Rosenberry's karate-like kick moments before the final whistle blew, confirming two dropped points for the Union.