Shades of 2011 last night as the Union rode a beautiful goal to an ugly victory. Freddy Adu is off the mark, Michael Farfan should be on Sportscenter, and Philadelphia is up to 6th in the Eastern Conference standings. Gabe Farfan and Keon Daniel were both sent off, and Peter Nowak joined them in the locker room, with supplemental discipline possible for all.
Peter Nowak didn’t have much to say after the match, but he clearly had some strong opinions. “I think the game went a little bit in the other direction after we scored our goal,” the Union manager said. “You don’t want to see this kind of stuff. Chivas was trying to pull every single trick out of their sleeve to make us suffer.
PSP has the full match report and all the highlights, but here are a few more reports to read with your morning coffee: Nothing from Philly.com, but the LA Times and the LA Daily News are on top of things. Goat Parade have the best lede of the bunch with the question: “Perhaps Chivas USA are planning on moving out of the Home Depot Center a season too late?” Philly Soccer News saw good, bad, and ugly in the match. MLSsoccer gave Carlos Valdes man of the match, though distinguishing him from Sheanon Williams hardly seems fair. Both were fantastic. 700 Level is impressed by Zac MacMath’s 332 minute shutout streak, and Ray Gaddis’ second straight big showing at right back.
It would be nice if the news was all groovy, but that’s hardly the case. ESPN quotes Chivas goalie Dan Kennedy, and the goalie says he had nothing to do: “Really, it was one of the easiest nights I’ve had,” he said. “I wasn’t very busy at all.”
Post-match Twitter chatter was all positive from the Union’s side. Ray Gaddis was glad to get the points,while Sheanon Williams was glad to get something else. The Sheanomenon also tagged Michael Farfan “vicious,” a label few could disagree with after last night’s performance. Some may argue his brother should have the same adjective for different reasons, but I’m not one of them.
Kevin Kinkead did the dirty work and found out that this is the first time the Union have used the same lineup in back-to-back matches since June 2011. Only five players from that lineup remain with the team.
101greatgoals has highlights from around the league. Kansas City lost their first of the year while San Jose went top in the west. Camilo’s fine finish lifted Vancouver from the doldrums and Columbus played to a 2-2 draw with Houston. The Galaxy returned to the win column with a 2-1 victory over Colorado.
A Japanese soccer ball washed up on Alaskan shores, debris from the Japanese tsunami last year.
The LA Times worries about heart attacks in soccer.
If you slept in this morning, more power to you. But you missed an unbelievable match between Manchester United and Everton at Old Trafford. Everton twice came back from two down to earn a point with a 4-4 tie. And many of the goals were gorgeous pieces of team play finished off with perfect strikes. The real losers are Wolves. Now if Manchester City beat them today, the Manchester teams will be separated by only three points. And they play each other April 30. Yikes.
Marfan growing in the CAM role very nicely. A man possessed last night.
An ugly, ugly ending to the game. To get three points helps but there are still some major issues that need to be addressed…like keep’n the ball a little bit.
Great to get 3 points, but SOG comparison week after week does not project to long term success. Please someone give us some words of optimism in Pajoy overall activity ……., speed? timing? ability to get open? SOG? He did keep his hands behind his back during scuffle…..so that was good…..right?
Totally agree with Peter. The officials suddenly decided that Chivas could do no wrong.
Too many people are underselling this win. Any time a team travels across the country and wins a match in the middle of the night (and yes, their bodies probably did think it was that late) it’s a big deal. To hold a lead down two men is impressive too.
Get over LeToux, people. It’s time to start supporting our club again.
R u on the Union’s pay-roll? Agree that it is a great win on the West Coast where it is not easy to win, and I am glad the defense and ZM are awesome but the issue is not Letoux; the issue is that we did not build on last year’s success. The Union should have added a striker to complement Letoux instead of unloading him and getting (an unproven) Pajoy who has been a complete failure. A striker who plays his position should bang them in at least once every 3 games. As it is he barely gets a shot on goal per game.
For real. He’s the only one still talking about LeToux.
Have you accidentally been attending DC United matches and reading their blogs? The LeToux fixation is ridiculous.
Then why is your comment is the only one to mention him?
I’m still bitter about Le Toux. But that’s because I feel loyalty to a team player who works hard to earn respect from fans. I’m sure the current players would love to know how quickly you’d forget about them when they are disrespected.
HCI goes 1-0-1 to open the season with a 2-1 win at Charlotte friday, and 0-0 draw at Wilmington saturday. Hoppenot started friday with Chandler subbing in; Chandler started saturday with Hoppenot coming off the bench. Friday’s goals were scored by Welker and Noone (GWG). Next match is Friday, May 4 @ Charlotte.
It was a GREAT win against a team that had been playing well. It is extremely difficult to not concede in that last 10-12 minutes down two men. A gutty game.
We are not a pretty team, and probably never will be, and this is NO change from last year or the year before. We are a blue collar defensive club.
Pajoy does suck, enough said. Hopefully this week will see the insertion of Mwanaga up front and Kai as a replacement for Keon.