photo: 215-pix

The Philadelphia Union responded to two straight 4-0 road losses with a resounding 5-1 over a hapless D.C. United squad in the nation’s capital. While United weren’t helped by the 40th minute dismissal of Junior Moreno for a foul on Kacper Przybylko, truthfully the Union were well on top of the match when D.C. still had 11 players on the field.

Most importantly for the Union, Marco Fabian had his best performance of the season, notching two goals and an assist while running the United defenders ragged. Jamiro Monteiro returned from injury to play over a half hour of solid soccer on his return, though Warren Creavalle put in an admirable shift starting on the left side of midfield in Monteiro’s place.

Andrew Wooten made his first start and looked decent paired up top with Kacper Przybylko.

Player Ratings

Andre Blake – 6

Quiet night for the Union goalkeeper. Made a fantastic stop to deny Steven Birnbaum’s header only for the follow up to be knocked in by Frederic Brillant for United’s lone goal.

Ray Gaddis – 6

Better performance from Gaddis who looked well off the pace last time out against Montreal. Thought Ray was still culpable for a few mistakes, though United couldn’t make the Union pay as Montreal and Real Salt Lake did last month.

Jack Elliott – 7 

Strong in the air and confident on the ball, good shift for Elliott.

Aurelien Collin – 6

Taking Auston Trusty’s place, the veteran looked serviceable. Was decent in his ball winning ability and in the air, though beaten for pace a few times as D.C. looked to play over the top most of the night. Absolutely deserved a yellow card for a body check that most Philadelphia Flyers would have been proud of.

Kai Wagner – 8

Back after serving a one game suspension, Wagner picked up where he left off. A solid shift in which he added his sixth assist of the season on Fabian’s first goal with a great ball across and even better timed overlap down the left.

Haris Medunjanin – 8

Solid performance for the deep lying midfielder. Sprayed the ball around at will through a porous United team. Did well to shoot from distance (something I criticized last week). Ended with an assist and a secondary assist.

Warren Creavalle – 8

One of the strongest performances from Creavalle since joining Philadelphia. The holding midfielder was active in pursuit and very much disrupted D.C. ever trying to maneuver through midfield. Only thing you could knock him with his was that a few times he found himself in glorious positions in the final third and wasn’t willing to take on a shot.

Alejandro Bedoya – 9

Great strike to open the scoring, a tricky low shot that found its way through traffic and bounced in off the post. And another match of tireless running down the right side. I’m adding a point for the Union captain using his voice, quite literally, to make an important statement about gun violence.

Marco Fabian – 8

Man of the match type performance in what was Fabian’s strongest performance in a Union shirt. The goals (and assist) were nice, even if the second one took a deflection, but the midfielder was all over the pitch and dictating play for most of his 80 minutes on the pitch.

Kacper Przybylko – 6

Decent performance for Przybylko who became the first Union player to 10 goals on the season. Will be disappointed with skying his penalty into Row Z, but rebounded nicely with a cool finish in the second half.

Andrew Wooten – 6

Decent performance from Wooten in his first start. Had some nice moments in possession and linked play well, but looked a tad rusty and occasionally not on the same page as his teammates.

Subs

Jamiro Monteiro – 7

Good to see Monteiro back out there, getting a little over a half hour of time after replacing Creavalle. He looked a little rusty in spots and misplayed a few passes, but still ended with an assist and found himself involved all over the midfield.

Ilsinho – 7

Replaced Wooten on 69 minutes. Did well to operate on the ball and keep United on the back foot. Notched an assist on Picault’s goal.

Fafa Picault – 7

Came off the bench for a 10 minute cameo in place of Fabian and found the target with a nicely placed half volley to add a little extra gloss to the scoreline.

Man of the Match – Marco Fabian

The DP midfielder had his best match of the season, scoring twice and assisting Bedoya’s opener. Shout out to Bedoya too though, who is gaining support as a rare write-in candidate for MLS Player of the Week.

Geiger Counter

Armando Villarreal – 7

Got the important call right, sending off Moreno and giving the penalty kick for a clear foul on Przybylko to deny a clear goal scoring opportunity. Hard to argue any of the Union’s four yellow cards of the night.