by John Bancroft, Philadelphia
With just two draws in their first two league games the apprehension of Union fans in the 16031 crowd and players was high for Saturday’s game against Western Division leader FC Dallas. After 8″ of snow the previous day, the field was in excellent condition and should remain fast through the first half.
The big question remained though whether Union head coach Jim Curtin could outmaneuver his Dallas opposite number Oscar Pareja and find the optimal outcome from a set of his available player choices.
Meeting expectations the Union opened quickly. Zach Pfeffer tooka knock just outside the 18 yard box and launched a hard free kick on goal only to be foiled by former Union Keeper Chris Seitz.
Andrew Wenger and Sebastien Le Toux provided good service into the newcomer Fernando Aristeguieta who showed he can be fairly fearless in the inside the 18 yard area.
His shot was blocked over the end line for a Union corner but Nogueira’s corner was off target. The Union midfield of Le Toux, Nogueira, Pfeffer, Edu and Wenger were winning most of the balls and pushing their side forward into the attacking third.
However as before, the failure to finish even with dominating statistics did not follow. Despite several solid opportunities Union lacked quality finishing despite controlling the pace and play of the game.
Dallas are a very dangerous side and Castillo’s speed was creating space for teammates like Blas Perez and Michel. Union Goalkeeper Rais M’bolhi handled it all very well but the first bad omen came for Philly before half time when they lost Sheanon Williams with a hamstring injury on 22 with Fabinho replacing him.
The game changing moment came just before half time.
Pfeffer’s elbow crashed sickeningly onto Mauro Diaz Later in first half and Referee Rivero produced an instant red. Pfeffer is a good player, with great potential but he needs to learn discipline, something he can start doing during his suspension with the MLS Disciplinary Commission may well add to.
With the Pfeffer ejection the Union was down to 10 players for the entirety of the second half.
Dallas came out hard pushing the attack and clearly on the mantra of Pareja to attack. It did not take the Texas side long to capitalize on the man advantage.
Five minutes in, Tesho Akindele blocked an attempted bad clearance from Fabinho near the edge of the 18. Akindele picked it up the blocked ball near the edge of the box and stroked it home to give Dallas a lead they never looked like relinquishing.
In spite of being a goal and a man down, the Union refused to become discouraged. Ray Gaddis continued to play hard and made some dangerous runs while pushing forward from the back as did the side but quality on the shots on frame was lacking.
In the 59th minute, FC Dallas strung together several passes beating Union defenders to get deep in the opposing half. Another turnover by the Union fell to Ryan Hollingshead who made no mistake with his opportunity and beat Mbolhi to his right for a 2-0 lead.
Eric Ayuk Mbu made his debut off the bench and the 18-year-old Cameroonian midfielder made an impact down the left flank as his fresh legs seem to put a spark in the Union’s play.
But the die was cast and Dallas move onto nine points from three games and enjoyed the bonus of seeing LA Galaxy drop home points. Vancouver in second split the two sides.
After failing to score against ten man Colorado, the Union were shut out at home for the second time this season and now have to pick up the pieces on the road against Eastern Conference rivals Chicago and Sporting Kansas City.
BOX SCORE
FC Dallas 2, Philadelphia Union 0
PPL Park
Chester, Pa.
SCORING SUMMARY
FCD – Tesho Akindele 49’
FCD – Ryan Hollingshead 59’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
PHI – Nogueira (yellow) 23’
FCD – Michel (yellow) 26’
FCD – Ulloa (yellow) 31’
PHI – Fabinho (yellow) 32’
PHI – Pfeffer (red) 42’
PHI – Le Toux (yellow) 86’
FCD – Hollingshead (yellow) 90+1’
UNION STARTING XI
Rais Mbolhi, Raymon Gaddis, Steven Vitoria, Ethan White (Lahoud 81’), Sheanon Williams (Fabinho 22’), Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira, Andrew Wenger (Ayuk 74’), Zach Pfeffer, Sebastien Le Toux, Fernando Aristeguieta.
FC DALLAS STARTING XI
Chris Seitz, Atiba Harris, Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges, Moises Hernandez, Victor Ulloa, Michel (Hollingshead 45’), Tesho Akindele, Mauro Diaz (Texeira 87’), Fabian Castillo, Blas Perez (Bekker 79’).
OFFICIALS
Jose Carlos Rivero (referee), Peter Manikowski (assistant), Eric Weisbrod (assistant), Robert Sibiga (fourth).
ATTENDANCE
16,031
