Union roll past New England despite failure from the spot

The New England Revolution came to town a frigid Sunday afternoon in the Philadelphia Union’s home opener. With the first shot of the game, CJ Sapong put the Union in the lead in the 18^th minute. Sapong settled a pinpoint cross from the touchline from Fabinho as Sapong took the ball past the first Revolution defender. His shot deflected off the other New England center back and careened past Shuttleworth at the near post. Sapong popped up again in the 33^rd minute to grab the Union’s second goal on the night. The goal started on the left wing again. This time Creavalle glided by Kelyn Rowe and pulled back a cross from the end line that Sapong redirected into the far corner.

Minutes later a Lee Nyugen free-kick rattled the left post only to come across the goal line and hit the right post. The ball ended up rolling across the goal-line into Blakes grateful grasp.

Shortly after, in the 36 minute a late slide from Je-vaun Watson caught Union midfielder Roland Alberg, and Watson received his marching orders with an early red card.

In first half stoppage time, a little shimmy from Ilsinho created confusion between two Revolution defenders. Ilsinho proceeded to roll the ball through Gershon Koffie’s legs and get a penalty after being obstructed while trying to run around (or through) the defender. Revolution keeper Shuttleworth ended up guessing right and making a good save to his right side, keeping the score at 2-0 as the two teams headed into the locker room

A counter in the 50^th minute saw Chris Pontius with a 1v1 with the goalkeeper at a tough angle, which Shuttleworth played well by making himself big and blocking the shot.

Another great chance for the Union occurred not long after as Sapong found space down the left side and whipped in a great cross to Pontius’s chest. Pontius fails to control it as it rolls into the keepers grasp.

In the 64’ Sapong and Pontius linked up again. Sapong lifted his pass over the Revolution defender as Pontius once again elected to control with his chest. The New England defender was quick to make up the space and made a great sliding tackle to prevent an easy goal.

Blake made one of his sole blunders of the season off a Revolution set piece in the 74’. He failed to punch the cross that afterward bounced just outside the 6 yard box. A New England attacker popped the ensuing shot over the net.

On the next possession Sapong made yet another run with the ball down the left. His shot/cross attempt rolled across the box to Le Toux at the far post whose sliding effort was launched just over the net from 8 yards away.

After an attempt from a corner was cleared off the line by a Revolution defender, Sapong gets pulled back while attempting an acrobatic shot after which the ref called the games second penalty. Le Toux lined up to take it and his attempt down the middle is kicked away by Shuttleworth, making his second penalty save of the afternoon. Snow began to fall with the final 10 minutes of this exciting encounter.

Another great save by Blake came late in the game. He was quick to get down to his right side for a shot from 12 yards away that was headed for the bottom corner.

Le Toux sealed off the game for the Union in the 88th minute with his first of the season and the Union’s 3^rd of the game. The Revolution defense tired out by this point, and Fernandes pushed the ball down the left yet again and found Le Toux lurking at the back post. The Frenchman couldn’t miss as he tapped it in from 2 yards out.

The game was tightly contested in the early goings. With the first two shots of the game, CJ Sapong scored his first goals on the season. Up until the 33rd minute the game was mostly a battle in the midfield. Neither side was able to gain dominance in possession until the red card occurred. The decision ended up completely changing the game as the Union were able to dictate most of the rest of the game. Midfielder Brian Carroll however was not impressed with the performance after the red card, “we took our foot off the gas too much, we needed to continue to play and press, we are satisfied with the result but not satisfied with how we played.” He went on to say, “we did a good job as a group overall defending, we just need to clean up our possession and take advantages of our opportunities when we get them.”

The Union were not entirely convincing for Carroll, and in truth got two goals against the run of play. However, a team must be doing something right to score goals. The Union will undoubtedly look to build off of what they have, and be grateful to have two wins by this point. I am looking forward to seeing the Union get results, and hopefully continue to establish themselves as challengers this year.