Union

You know it, the Crew knows it, the entire sports media knows it, and the Union, they certainly know it: they was robbed on Saturday night.

John Hackworth said, “I’m very proud of the effort of my team because they certainly did everything to try to get us level , and we got there. Then to have [Mirosevic’s late winner] not called offside– I just watched it a couple of times– I’m amazed. I don’t know what to say. It’s not even close. It’s a heartbreaker that way, for us to fight that hard and be that brave, then lose that way. We’ve been on the bad end of a lot of that this season. It’s frustrating.”

Crew manager Robert Warzycha said of the blown call, “I’m not an official, but I’ll take it.”

When asked if he was offside, Milovan Mirosevic said, “I don’t know. You tell me, because from where I was, I hadn’t gotten enough time to see the line and receive the ball. I just received the ball and kicked it.” In other words, yes, he knows he was offside.

Carlos Valdes reportedly tweeted, “I can’t believe they didn’t call off-side in the last goal of Columbus.” The tweet is no longer on Valdes’ timeline.

Sheanon Williams tweeted, “Lost for words #smh.”

The Columbus Dispatch reports, “A Major League Soccer officiating supervisor told The Dispatch that the referee missed several calls in the game, including that one, adding that the officiating crew should get a failing grade for the performance.”

SI writes, “the decision by an assistant referee not to give Mirovan Mirosevic offside as he won the game for Columbus in the 88th minute was not debatable: it was plain wrong.”

ProSoccerTalk says, “Let’s count up the teams that will be highly unpleased about this blown call: D.C. United, for darn sure, plus Houston and perhaps even Chicago and New York. Yep, that’s about it…It’s a bang-bang sequence, for sure, and it’s not always easy to get these right. But is that (“It’s not always easy to get these right.”) what they’ll be telling some team that missing the playoffs by a point, if it comes down to Columbus collecting two extra points off this one?”

Jack McInerney said of the Union’s fightback from being down two goals to draw level before the blown call, “It just shows what kind of team we have. We’re not in the playoffs, we’re 2-0 down, and we fought back like that. Then we give up a soft goal. It’s a little disappointing.”

Brian Carroll said, “The guys did a good job drawing a PK, Jack [McInerney] getting into dangerous spots. It just started to open up for us. We finished those chances that we were creating in the first half. It’s unlucky, unfortunate. It feels just as bad.”

Match reports from the Union website, thecrew.com, Philly Soccer News, Brotherly Game, Philadelphia Union Examiner, Columbus Crew Examiner, Columbus Dispatch, Massive Report, SBI, Goal.com, The Sports Network, SB Nation, and the AP. Postgame quote sheet here.

So, now that they’re officially eliminated from the playoffs, where does the Union go from here? Hackworth said, “We’ve just got to keep performing well. We somehow continue to outplay our opponents in certain parts of the game, but  we’re still making too many little mistakes. We’ve got to clean that up. We’ve got to continue to improve and build toward next year. Obviously, we’re out of [the MLS Cup Playoffs race] at this point. We have a tough couple of games, the next five games coming up. We’re just trying to make sure that we do the same things we have been and hopefully build some momentum going into next year.”

The Reserve League match on Sunday between the Union and the Crew seems to have been a wild affair. Lucky Mkosana opened up the scoring for the Union in the first minute before the Crew equalized in the 23rd minute. The home team took the lead in the 53rd minute before Zach Pfeffer equalized ten minutes later. The Crew took the lead again in the 69th minute before Chandler Hoffman equalized again in the 73rd and the match finished 3–3.  In addition to Mkosana, Matt Kassel was a guest player for the Union (and assisted Mkosana’s goal). Academy player Brian Nana-Sinkam came on for Roger Torres at the start of the second half.

After Friday morning’s news roundup was published, SBI posted a link to a highlight reel on YouTube of all of the chances Freddy Adu has created so far this season. There are some lovely chances and the video also underscores just how many sitters Lionard Pajoy missed. Many will agree with SBI in that the video makes the case that opinion about Adu’s season would be higher if he had people playing around him that were better at finishing the opportunities he created. Wherever you fall in that debate, if the video is comprehensive, it shows 19 chances created in 12 games. Adu has played in 23 games.

The Sons of Ben are hosting an Oktoberfest party before Saturday’s game against New England. Ticket information is available here.

The Union is marking the countdown to Thursday’s deadline for season ticket renewals by asking Union players “what they love about calling PPL Park home and what it’s like to play for the blue and gold.” Here’s what Amobi Okugo,  Chris Albright, and Michael Farfan have to say.

Local

Former Strath haven and Union academy player Thomas Shiiba played for Navy in the inaugural Army-Navy Cup at PPL Park on Sunday. The game ended as a 1–1 draw.

It’s a little ways away, but Harrisburg City Islanders will be hosting Socctoberfest on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Skyline Sports Complex from 3pm-9pm. The event will feature ” live music, beer sampling, corn hole, horseshoe and much more.”

Anthony Colofranson was one goal away from the century mark when Gateway hosted GCIT on Saturday. He now has 102 goals after scoring a hat trick in the 5–1 win, raising his season total to 30 goals after ten games.

MLS

In Eastern Conference play, first place Kansas City (58 points) secured a playoff spot with a 2–0 win over now third place Chicago (53 points). Second place New York (53 points) defeated last place Toronto (22 points) 4–1. Fourth place DC (51 points) conceded a late goal to Portland to end 1–1 after being gifted a controversial penalty kick. Fifth place Houston (49 points)  defeated ninth place New England (29 points) 2–0. Sixth place Columbus (48 points) remains in the running after robbing the eighth place Union (30 points) 3–2. Montreal (40 points) is squarely in seventh place and had the weekend off.

Tim Cahill is down with the idea of playoffs.

Orlando City Lions are working hard to join MLS. The Orlando Sentinel reports, “Orange Mayor Teresa Jacobs will travel to Pennsylvania to look over PPL Park, the home field of MLS’ Philadelphia Union and the model the Lions want to reproduce in Orlando.”

The Queens Times Ledger has come out in support of building a soccer specific stadium in that neighborhood. Meanwhile, the Daily News reports that an emergency meeting has been called about concerns that the stadium could result in the loss of parklands.

Football Fancast has the top ten MLS players “who will have ‘Premier League scouts sniffing.'”

US

The USMNT will play Russia in a friendly on Nov. 14. The match will take place at Krasnodar, which is near the Black Sea.

Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore both scored this weekend and Tim Howard’s Everton is second place in the EPL.

Despite finishing with five points in group play, the 1–1 draw with North Korea on Saturday saw the US eliminated from the U-17 Women’s World Cup on goal difference.

Elsewhere

FIFA has selected the venues for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Leander Schaerlaeckens looks at the life and career of David Testo, the first male North American professional player to come out of the closet.