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Le Toux PK lifts 10-man Union over SJ

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Sebastien Le Toux scored his first goal of the season, doing so from the penalty spot, and the 10-man Philadelphia Union held off the San Jose Earthquakes for a 1-0 result at PPL Park Saturday afternoon.

Philadelphia was gifted the penalty when Earthquakes centerback Jason Hernandez went to ground to block an Amobi Okugo cross by the end-line, and referee Mark Geiger deemed that Hernandez handled the cross. Le Toux stepped to the spot in the 76th minute and beat Jon Busch for the game's only tally.

The Union went down a man in the 41st minute, when Jordan Harvey was sent off by Geiger for apparently purposefully stepping on Chris Leitch. Both players went for a 50-50 ball, and Leitch went to ground while Harvey stayed upright. Harvey's momentum carried him through Leitch, though the contact appeared to be incidental.

Union coach Peter Nowak started Danny Mwanga and Roger Torres in a more offense-minded lineup than in games past only to opted for substitutes Stefani Miglioranzi and Michael Farfan for a more defensive, postition-oriented lineup in the second half.

The substitutions helped the Union achieve the result, as Philadelphia out-possessed and out-played San Jose, despite being a man down. Chris Wondolowski started in the midfield on the right, while Scott Sealy played up top for San Jose, but the Earthquakes could hardly generate chances that threatened Faryd Mondragon's goal.

Frank Yallop made a whole host of changes to his starting lineup in an effort to jump-start his struggling team. Among the regular starters benched were Bobby Convey, Khari Stephenson, Ryan Johnson, Sam Cronin and Ramiro Corrales. Rookie Anthony Ampaipitakwong started and played well in spurts on the left, while Justin Morrow, Brad Ring, Bobby Burling and Steven Lenhart all earned starts as well.

The loss was the third straight for the Earthquakes (1-4-2), while the 1-0 victory was the fourth of its kind this season for the Union (4-1-1).

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What did you think of the red card and penalty calls? Who should be starting for San Jose? Thinking that the Union defense is the real deal? Do you see Le Toux breaking out?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. not a fan of either team, but i was in philly, so i went to the game. officiating was terrible. But was very impressed with the stadium and the fan support.

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  2. The handball was the right call. Keep your hands down and it doesn’t get called. It should have been two yellows. I think I’m starting to see Philly not get the calls because of Ruiz and that’s got to stop. Play Mwanga instead and have Ruiz come off the bench. The league really needs to get some better refs and quick. I’ve seen AYSO games better reffed than what I saw yesterday. That whole crew should be reffing reserve league matches the rest of the year after that one.

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  3. The Union seem to get a lot of breaks this season. I wonder how long it will last before reality sets in.

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  4. Argh, this game was just awful. the only thing worse than the Quakes play w/ a man advantage was the officiating. agree that two yellows was the right call- or even a warning to both Leitch and Harvey. the pk was terribly soft, but Hernandez sliding in w/ his arms flailing is just asking for trouble. he keeps making mistakes that cost his team points, while the coach ‘sends a message’ by making 7 changes to the team, and somehow he stays in over Opara?!? unfreaking believable.

    Quakes are a truly awful team right now, and their playoff run last year looks like a fluke. good job renewing Yallop and Doyle’s contracts based on that bit of luck!

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  5. I was actually really impressed by Michael Farfan after Harvey went off. The Union looked much better with only 10 men on the field, especially getting down the left side with Farfan and Daniel. While the handball call was questionable, it did appear to hit his hand from the River End. Obviously not an impartial observer, but thought the Union deserved the win.

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  6. Another weekend, another match ruined by poor officiating. I’m not a fan of either team, by the way. I just get tired of officials calling what they think might of happened rather than what they actually saw happen. That is the only explanation for so many mysterious red cards and penalty kicks.

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  7. Not a supporter of either side:

    The officiating was so poor in this game. First the red card which should have been either two yellows, or two reds, but not just one red. Two yellows seemed most appropriate.

    And then the penalty call was just as bad.

    The thing about both calls is that if after the game both of the calls had someone gone uncalled–if the handball was waved off, and two yellows were handed out–would any impartial viewer have thought some great misdeed went unpunished. Nope. Instead we’re left wondering why this year in MLS seems to be about the refs and not the play on the field.

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  8. San Jose is just awful at the moment. How does a team have a man advantage for the last 50 minutes of a match and yet have no threatening offensive attack?

    Yallop and Doyle have no business being in charge of this team. Oh, and the Quakes also needs a real stadium.

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  9. Just got done watch San Jose/Philly…what an absolutely terrible match. First of all, the officiating was terrible yet again. Suspect red and a suspect penalty and several other bizarre and missed calls. Secondly, I am tired of Carlos Ruiz. He spends 3/4 of the match flopping around and whining. Hey, Peter Novak he isn’t good anymore. Play Mwanga. I don’t care if he has a whopping two goals this year, he doesn’t bring anything to the table outside of annoying the opposing team. I’d rather watch Stoke play pre Owen Coyle Bolton squads than watch another match like that. I’m not a believer in the “total football” nonsense, but please try not to turn the matches into a North Broad St. gang fight.

    Reply

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