Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union
The Union drew Montreal 2-2 last night in the Suncoast Invitational. The starting lineup had one surprise, with 19-year-old Derrick Jones getting another start in central midfield.
Ilson Jr. scored from beyond the eighteen to put the Union up 1-0. Montreal equalized in the second half after some lackadaisical marking on Nick DePuy, who happily slotted it home. The Union would rebuild the lead in the final ten minutes off a well-worked corner routine that ended with a C.J. Sapong header. The Union looked set to finish with the win before another defensive miscue allowed Anthony Jackson-Hamel to shoot from close and score off a deflection in the 90th minute. Enjoy the full PSP recap. The Union website has this review of the game.
Also from the Union site, four takeaways from last night’s match.
A Montreal perspective on the game, where the Canadians were “held” to a draw.
If you have a really slow day at work, watch the whole game here.
The Union have another look at the partnership between Bedoya and Medunjanin.
MLS features Chris Pontius and his national team hopes.
Major League Soccer
Seventeen MLS sides played some sort of game yesterday, the most important being the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal between New York Red Bulls and Vancouver Whitecaps. The game finished 1-1 in Harrison, with Kekuta Manneh and Bradley Wright-Phillips scoring. Sasha Kljestan had his penalty saved.
Toronto beat Minnesota 3-0. Sebastian Giovinco continued to be himself, scoring twice, including this stunning opener.
A mostly reserve side of Red Bulls played Houston in the Desert Diamond Cup. Houston had a 2-0 lead at halftime, with a goal from Mauro Manotas assisted by former Union man Andrew Wenger and another from Jalil Anibaba. Red Bull scored two in the second half for a 2-2 draw. Video of the game here.
D.C. United easily took care of FC Saint Louis 3-0. Video highlights of goals here.
Chicago downed FC Cincinnati 3-2. The Fire may have played the most non-MLS level opponents of any team.
Columbus Crew SC and Charleston Battery swapped a goal each.
Colorado won by their favorite scoreline of 1-0 over NYCFC.
Atlanta gained more MLS experience with a sharp 4-2 defeat of Seattle. Perhaps making a mountain out of a molehill, the Atlanta site reported that the team “defeat[ed] 2016 MLS Cup Champions Seattle Sounders.”
Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel FC faced off with Junior Lone Star yesterday afternoon. See the PSP recap here.
Youth
The Ukrainian Nationals Soccer Club is hosting an ID clinic for its inaugural U11/U12 boys team. US Soccer has recently granted the club academy status.
US soccer
The USWNT begins preparation for the SheBelieves Cup with some weightlifting.
Around the globe
In Champions League action, Juventus took care of hosts FC Porto 2-0.
Sevilla beat Leicester City 2-1 at home, but Jamie Vardy pulled one back late to give Leicester hope.
Valencia beat Leicester? This site is consistently awesome, so you guys get a mulligan for sure. 😉
Yea, Sevilla the team that beat them haha. But no worries; I’m just thankful these daily roundups are still happening! Thanks Josh (no big deal just champions league 🙂
Fixed! 🙂
Oh man, I am so happy these daily roundups are back and certainly just ball-busting. Keep it up guys.
Got me. Thanks.
Look at the Europa League lineup for today. Very compelling games today.
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Ranieri just got the axe.
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Second year in a row the manager of the current title holders has been sacked.
Insane. All the love they had for him and what he and that team did last year. I’m not that surprised. Just kind of sad for the old guy.
Hard to build anything when the demand for instant success is so high.
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Which is one of the reasons I’m on board with letting Curtin grow on the job.
Huge news on the Union Youth front.
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Vision.
Philosophy.
Plan.