Alejandro Bedoya scored the only goal of the game in the 4th minute as Philadelphia Union edged a listless Orlando City SC side in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.
Jim Curtin named a strong starting 11. Cory Burke kept his spot at striker, and David Accam starting on the right side in place of the injured Ilsinho.
The Union opened the scoring early. Haris Medujanin played in a corner kick to the far post that Fafa Picault rose highest for. His header was well saved by Earl Edwards Jr., but the rebound fell right to Bedoya to tap in from two yards.
Borek Dockal had a great chance to give Philadelphia a two-goal lead in the 16th minute. Keegan Rosenberry played in a low cross that David Accam dummied for Dockal to hit first time from near the penalty spot, but Edwards was down low to his left to push the ball behind.
Orlando would have great chance to equalize in the 36th minute. Oriol Rosell had time to pick out a cross from the corner of the Philadelphia box and lofted in a great ball that Will Johnson met 8 yards from goal. But Andre Blake was up to the task, tipping the ball over the top of his goal.
Dockal again would have a chance to double the Union lead in the 43rd minute. Bedoya found room on the Union right side and slid a cross in for the midfielder, but his shot was well high of goal with an Orlando defender sliding in to put him off.
The second half was a cagey affair with few chances at either end. Cory Burke fired a shot that had to be saved in the 52nd minute. Marcus Epps couldn’t get much on his curling effort in the 66th minute.
Fafa Picault almost found the Union’s second in the 80th minute. Driving at the Orlando backline on the left, he beat his man and fired a low shot just wide of Edwards goal from a sharp angle 12 yards out.
Philadelphia would do an excellent job killing off the final moments of the game, with Bedoya, Picault, and Epps especially holding the ball up terrifically in the right corner.
Three points
- Union not punished for not getting the 2nd: Philadelphia had plenty of chances to find a goal that would have essentially sealed the game, but it never came. Luckily, it looked like Orlando could have played 180 minutes and never scored on the evening.
- Center backs: Trusty and McKenzie absolutely dominated Dom Dwyer for 90 minutes. McKenzie had a particularly strong match against the dynamic forward.
- Survive and advance: The Union did well to close out the match, holding the ball for much of the last 15 minutes. It wasn’t an especially pretty match, especially the second half, but it’s all about advancing on to the semifinals.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union
Andre Blake, Keegan Rosenberry, Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, Ray Gaddis, Alejandro Bedoya, Fafa Picault, Borek Dockal (Warren Creavalle 84′), David Accam (Marcus Epps 59′), Cory Burke (C.J. Sapong 63′)
Unused Subs: John McCarthy, Fabinho, Jack Elliott, Fabian Hebers
Orlando City FC
Earl Edwards Jr., Shane O’Neill, Mohamed El-Munir, Donny Toia, Amro Tarek, Josue Colman (Stefano Pinho 62′), Oriol Rosell (Cameron Lindley 70′), Chris Mueller (Dillon Powers 45′), Will Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Dominic Dwyer
Unused Subs: Joe Bendik, Tony Rocha, Chris Schuler, RJ Allen
Scoring summary
PHI: Alejandro Bedoya— 4′
Disciplinary summary
ORL: Donny Toia — 85′ (unsporting behavior)
ORL: Will Johnson – 90′ (unsporting behavior)
| Philadelphia Union | Orlando City SC | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Shots | 10 |
| 9 | Shots on Target | 4 |
| 7 | Shots off Target | 4 |
| 2 | Blocked Shots | 2 |
| 8 | Corner Kicks | 3 |
| 10 | Crosses | 9 |
| 0 | Offsides | 1 |
| 8 | Fouls | 8 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 543 | Total Passes | 460 |
| 84% | Passing Accuracy | 81% |
| 53.9% | Possession | 46.1% |
| 41 | Duels Won | 36 |
| 53% | Duels Won % | 47% |
| 8 | Tackles Won | 12 |
| 4 | Saves | 8 |
| 12 | Clearances | 13 |
Well done, Union.
Still some issues with finishing that are likely the Union when they are playing a stronger team (like LA Saturday night). Still it was nice to see the Union as the better team.
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It was also nice to see a ref that was calling a consistent game where he was letting the players play. There are definitely some refs that would have bought it every time Dwyer went down.
For some reason, USOC refs frequently seem to do a better job than the regulars
PUT THE BALL IN THE NET.
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Great to see them seal the game, but they have to put away more of their chances. This has become the single greatest issue for the club by a large margin. There is a ton of potential in this club…just put the damn ball in the net.
Survive and advance. Two steps from a trophy. I’ll take it.
Draw at 1:45pm today for semis and final…on ussoccer.com
So is anyone else worried at how bad Haris has been? Multiple bad passes and consistently out of position. Bedoya must have thrown his arms up in his direction at least 4 times. Except for his goal he’s been in pretty bad form lately.
Agreed, Harris looked really poor last night and that was against a non-existent ORL midfield. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a worse midfield performance by a visiting MLS club than last night. The Union played right through so many times very easily.
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His lack of mobility really becomes an issue when he drifts out wide in the build-up and struggles to get back when the ball turns over.
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It was a good win and I like the way that the team ultimately killed off the match, but it wasn’t a complete performance by any stretch.
I did not see this match, but I’ve been worried about how limited he’s been for the entire season. I was shocked that they picked up his option, frankly. I love the guy, but we need to move on from him next year. I sure hope it’s Derrick Jones’ spot to lose come March.
Harris has been fine. Dockal is the one everyone should be worried about. Can’t pass nor shoot!
Dockal has not being feeling well which was pointed out by the webcast crew. He also has a new born which someone (Tim I believe) pointed out, and is still probably adjusted sleep patterns.
Thought he had a good first half but came out in the second in a stupor. Maybe a can of Red bull at halftime would help.
I thought that was a pretty fun game despite the low score, especially the first half. I would have liked for another of the like 7 or 8 chances they had to go in but i still had a good time and we won
Apparently everyone left their shootin’ boots at home. They gotta finish those shots. Dockal, come on. Huge disappointment. Burke and Accam (who changed boots at halftime) were equally useless in the goal department. Burke really showed his rawness in decision making…again. Haris looked very tired (would’ve liked to have seen Creavalle for him at halftime).
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Bedoya did well, strong cleanup finish. Fafa had a tireless, great game. Keegs had an even better game. Wow, that kid can play on both sides of the ball. The whole backline really showed their worth. I have confidence in our backline and it feels good to type that.
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Two more wins till silverware but it won’t happen unless we finish our chances. The boys should have netted 3 or 4 tonight and that’s the sorry difference between our squad and the big clubs.
I was thinking during the game that the issue was with some of the shots that went wide, like one of Accam’s where he had an open net to the left but tried to beat the keeper to the right and shot it wide.
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The one where Dockal shot low and the keeper made a diving save on, I don’t have a problem with. Sometimes there is a great save.
If the point of soccer was to create chances this team would have multiple MLS Cups. You must starting finishing with at least some consistency.
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But overall they played excellent last night, weather was great down there, and the crowd was a decent size. Let’s fill it up for the semis – assuming we host of course!
On other thing: CJ did nothing again tonight. The guy works hard, takes a beating (often times with no call), and can hold up play, but I haven’t seen him make a run that is worth a shit in like 2 months. He is either late or no where to be found on balls in the box. And just can’t create for himself at all.
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With that said Burke is no superstar, but the guy makes runs, reads the play, can hold the ball up, and can create chances for himself – all that AND he actually scores from time to time. He is the clear starter… until the Union actually upgrade the position. Which they won’t, so for me, it’s Burke’s job to lose now
There was a play in the second half when Burke received the ball and worked his way to the penalty spot, stiff arming the defender, back to goal and then made a decent turn and shot (unfortunately directly at the goalie). But I thought. CJ would have been on the ground 3 times during that sequence. I just seems like CJ is ALWAYS playing for the foul and seems to forget that his job is to score. His default is to back into a defender, get hammered, fall, repeat. Yes, he takes a beating but it sometimes is like slamming your face into someones fist.
I was at the game and turned to my dad and said the exact same thing. He looks for the foul A LOT. And, I will concede he doesn’t get a lot of the calls he should, but he has to recognize that the refs know his game and they are rarely calling it. Stay up.
I was pleased with the result from last night, but remember this is a win against the worst team in MLS since May 1 who were playing only their third match with a new coach. Nothing to be boastful about, and probably why the players were so muted at the end.
There was a play in the second half when Burke received the ball and worked his way to the penalty spot, stiff arming the defender, back to goal and then made a decent turn and shot (unfortunately directly at the goalie). But I thought. CJ would have been on the ground 3 times during that sequence. I just seems like CJ is ALWAYS playing for the foul and seems to forget that his job is to score. His default is to back into a defender, get hammered, fall, repeat. Yes, he takes a beating but it sometimes is like slamming your face into someones fist.
The team played very well strategically. Again, the finishing sucks. Basic mechanics of taking a shot is something I fault the players and the coach because it’s grade school stuff. Keep your goddamn head down when shooting . They keep shanking and skying shots from within spitting distance–inexcusable–by picking their heads up as they shoot because they want to enjoy watching their shot sail into the net. Watch your goals on YouTube. The crowd will tell you if you scored, there’s a rebound, etc. It’s so basic…you learn that in baseball, golf, etc, so you don’t pop up/sky your shot or shank it.