It was a landmark day for soccer in Philadelphia. A first home game, a first win and a first hat trick of goals for the Union. Frenchman Sebastien Le Toux made it a night to remember a the Linc, bagging three goals with the most clinical of finishes.

The dream start was in effect after just the 4th minute, with Le Toux heading home completely unmarked from a nice curling cross by Roger Torres (who continued to impress in his second match). It was a great finish from a very good cross, a combination of two players who will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the Union’s fortunes this season.

The first half continued as a scrappy midfield battle, but Le Toux was in the mood and not done yet. His second was a beautiful piece of counterattacking play. Arrieta cleared under pressure to Alejandro Moreno, who showed great vision to split the DC United defenders, hitting Le Toux in stride who finished with aplomb. It was a quality goal that would have many wondering if this was the same team we saw struggle against Seattle. The team left to a standing ovation with a well deserved 2-0 lead.

The second half began with Jaime Moreno being introduced for DC United, who instantly added a bit more fluency to their play. Rodney Wallace won a free kick in a dangerous area after being tripped up needlessly by Arrieta, but Pontius skied it over. United soon got their first when a poor pass from Michael Orozco was picked off by a marauding Santino Quaranta, who smashed it home from distance. Another defensive blunder, another goal for the opposition. But Orozco’s error paled in comparison what happened next.

In one of the more bizarre sequences you will ever see, Jaime Moreno quite slyly deked Chris Seitz into dropping the ball while still very much in a dangerous position. Whoops. The veteran Moreno stole the ball, faked out the startled ‘keeper and finished easily to draw the score level. It was flukey and strange, but a bad mistake nonetheless from Seitz, who looked shaky on a few other occasions during the game.

At 2-2 the game really began to open up, with great chances falling for Shea Salinas (on for Torres) and Le Toux. The game was changed completely however when Dejan Jakovic was sent off for pulling back Alejandro Moreno when through on goal. While Moreno may have embellished the foul, he was certainly pulled, and with Jakovic adjudged to be the last man, he had to go.

Who else but Sebastien Le Toux stepped up for the free kick, and curled it home through the space in DC United’s wall, sending the crowd into a frenzy. It was another excellent finish, and with United down to 10 men, victory was in sight. The last few minutes saw some very good build-up play from the Union, with substitute Jack McInerney taking just one touch too many in the box. At the final whistle the crowd erupted, the fireworks were set off, and the Union players celebrated a deserved 3-2 victory.

Some thoughts on the game:

• Le Toux!!!

What can you say? The Frenchman was always praised by Seattle fans for his workrate and attitude, with his finishing leaving something to be desired. Looks like we got him with his shooting boots on, which certainly bodes well for a team that looked to be short of firepower after the first match. His name now goes down in Philadelphia Union history in a big way.

• Security Hassles

What a shame that so many people missed so much of the game to the security debacle. It guess it’s kinda cool to have the Vice President in attendance, but what would have been cooler would have been for everyone to have gotten their money’s worth. People were still trickling in over 25 minutes into the game, which is absolutely ridiculous for a game of this magnitude.

• Sexy Football

The ugly, scrappy style of play we saw in the Seattle match seems to have given way to some actual passing, attacking soccer. Perhaps this is a symptom of simply playing better overall, but I dare say that the presence of Fred had something to do with it. With Fred’s flair and Torres’ quality on the ball, Le Toux should have plenty more finishing opportunities this season.

• 34,870 Can’t be wrong!

A fantastic showing from the new fanbase. Long may it continue.