Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Union

From SI.com:

“There’s a beast in the East, and it’s not New York. The Philadelphia Union doesn’t seem to care about all of the talk about the New York Red Bulls’ vaunted attack and sound distribution from the back. It’s looking down on its Eastern Conference rivals from atop the standings after a gritty win at an electric PPL Park.”

Peter Nowak in response to reporter’s questions about the lack of scoring: “What’s the difference if we win 5-0 or 1-0?” What do you want to achieve? We need to be effective, we need to be smart, we need to be efficient.” Speaking for myself, the difference might be between whether I develop an ulcer by June or, say, late October, early November.

Danny Califf on the win: “The best thing is that we haven’t played our best soccer, and we are standing here with nine points.”

More reaction to the win:

• The PSP’s Adam Cann’s match report and player ratings
• Goal.com
• Press of Atlantic City
• ASN Philly has a match report and player ratings
• The Brotherly Game has a match report and tactical analysis
• Union City Blue (a second post includes photos)
• The Union Dues

The IllegitimateS website, Section133.com, has a great collection of video from Saturday’s game.

Chris Agorsor scored the game winner in the Union reserves 2–1 victory over Red Bulls reserves. He was also called offside nine times. Says reserves coach Brendan Burke, “He has to be a little more patient. He’s definitely a threat. He’s got a rocket tied to the back of him.”

The Inquirer reports that Villanova’s board of trustees will delay their scheduled Tuesday vote on whether to join the Big East. “The chief sticking point, according to the source, is Villanova’s plan to use PPL Park in Chester, the 18,500-seat home of the Philadelphia Union, as its primary venue.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Letting Villanova play American football at PPL is a terrible idea. The pitch will be destroyed and marked by gridiron lines. The issue seems to be whether Villanova can convince the Big East that PPL will be expanded to 30,000 seats. I have no doubt that all Union fans agree that the stadium should be expanded according to the needs of the Union not some college football team.

Some moron doesn’t like the Union. Using the sound logic of a three-year old, he argues the reason why soccer is “the sport of choice everywhere else in the world” is “because they don’t have the best football, baseball and basketball athletes.” Sounds like someone needs their diaper changed.

MLS

The Energy Drinks Tim Ream tweets on Sunday, “Sorry everyone for the mistake last night that lost us the game.” That’s OK, Tim, really it is.

In the Eastern Conference, FC Dallas got their first win, 3–0, over Colorado on Friday. On Saturday, Houston defeated the Whitecaps 3–1 on Sunday. Toronto drew 1–1 away with San Jose. Columbus drew 0–0 away with Chivas. Chicago lost 2–1 at Seattle. New England lost at home 2–0 to Real Salt Lake. DC United flopped their way to a 1–1 draw with LA. On Sunday, Houston topped the Whitecaps 3–1. Sporting Kansas City had the week off.

The New York Times wonders will Charlie Davies’ game-tying goal-producing dive on Saturday will hurt his reputation. David Beckham said of the penalty, “Absolutely disgusting call. Even my 6-year-old son would know not to call that a penalty.” Bruce Arena commented, “The officiating in this league is what it is. Unfortunately we’re all conditioned to it now anyway, and we accept it. It is what it is.”

Chris Savino talks to representatives from MLS and Allstate about corporate sponsorship of the Sueño MLS competition.

Independence

Reaction on the Independence website to the team’s 2–2 draw with Sky Blue FC thanks to Tina DiMartino’s stoppage time goal: “It was a tale of two halves.”

Coach Paul Riley: “A-Rod was the difference.”

Elsewhere

Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke is the new majority owner of Arsenal. Kroenke also owns the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Rams.