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McInerney’s late winner gives Union comeback win over Revolution

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By JOEY SAMUEL

CHESTER, Pa. — Even though it's still July, the Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution are already scrapping to remain in the playoff race. On Sunday, one team earned the win they needed, while the other was left wondering what could have been.

Jack McInerney delivered a game-winning goal in the 90th minute, heading home a Sheanon Williams cross to give the Union a 2-1 victory at PPL Park on Sunday night. It was the first time this season that the Union had come back from a deficit to win a game in league play.

The victory, the Union's fourth straight at home, pulled Philadelphia into a tie with New England in the East standings, nine points behind fifth-place Chicago with two games in hand on the Fire.

"We're slowly chipping away," said Union coach John Hackworth. "You see the character in these players. I don't know that we played great in the first half. For them to come out and try to play with a lot of confidence in the second half, that's our brand of soccer. We're going to attack the whole time."

New England started the match strongly, with Saer Sene beating Zac MacMath with a wicked shot to give the Revolution a lead in the 12th minute. New England then blew a number of opportunities to extend their lead throughout the rest of the first half, and the Union were lucky to enter the locker room at halftime with the score still only 1-0.

After being outplayed and outscored in the first half, Philadelphia became more threatening in the second half and in the 59th minute, referee Edvin Jurisevic called a controversial penalty on New England when McInerney went down near the edge of the area. It left the Revs furious, as there wasn't much contact and they felt it occurred outside of the box. But Freddy Adu stepped up to the spot anyway and secured an equalizer for the Union.

In the closing moments, as the match appeared headed for a draw, Sheanon Williams earned some space on the right flank and delivered a pinpoint cross to McInerney, whose header beat Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis.

Union captain Carlos Valdes, fresh off his appearance in the All-Star Game, then pulled off some key tackles in stoppage time to preserve three huge points for Philadelphia, who went level with the Revs in the Eastern Conference standings with the win.

"It's a confidence-builder, and it shows the character of our team," said McInerney. "We don't give up until the end of the game. We want to be in the playoffs. We have to win every game at home and get a couple of results on the road. If we keep the run going and keep getting those three points we'll be right there."

If the Union do in fact keep the run going, they're likely to climb quickly in the Eastern Conference standings. They now find themselves four points behind the Montreal Impact, but Philadelphia has four games in hand on the expansion side. Columbus is five points ahead of the Union with the same number of games played, while the fifth-place Fire are now only nine points away and the Union have two games in hand on them.

"We wanted to move up in the standings, and we did that," said Sheanon Williams. "We've got a bunch of games on Montreal, so we're on their backs and we're coming for spots. We're on a good run, and hopefully we'll continue that."

New England, meanwhile, were left wondering what they did wrong in a game that they led for nearly an hour before a highly controversial penalty call went the other team's way.

"I think it is a harsh penalty.  I think we all know it was outside the box," said Revs coach Jay Heaps. "Now if that's not called does the momentum swing that quick? I don't think so but that being said, we had our chances to win the game. We had chances to go up 2-0 or 3-0. We didn't do it, and we left reeling a little bit."

With the loss, the Revolution fell into a tie with the Union for eighth place in the East, and New England has played two more games. Only Toronto FC has less points per game of any Eastern Conference team.

"I think we need to take a hard long look at ourselves but at the same time, look at the negatives and look at the positives, adjust and move forward," Heaps said.

A long homestand now ends for Philadelphia, as they take to the road next Saturday to face the Montreal Impact. It'll be the second straight game in which the Union face the team directly above them in the East standings. The Revolution, meanwhile, will look to rebound on Saturday when they host another struggling Eastern Conference team, Sporting Kansas City, at Gillette Stadium.

Here are the match highlights:

Comments

  1. I was thinking the same thing watching Joseph (I was at the game). I’d even go as far to say that he’s a few pounds too heavy. Most NE jerseys are pretty tight and you can see the guys are fit. Joseph’s jersey is a size or two too big – it’s like he’s hiding the fact that he’s a bit big. Hopefully (for NE) he just need to get fully fit then he’ll be back to his regular self.

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  2. Yes, McInerney was outside the box, but the ref also completely blew a handball call a few minutes later, so it evens out.

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  3. Not much to say other than the ref sucked and if Philly had better service form the midfield, those hopeful through balls would translate into chances instead of offsides calls and intercepted passes.

    Still gutted Revs lost in the fashion they did.

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  4. Was at the match and have to admit that in real time from the opposite side of the pitch, McInerny dove outside the box. Questionable foul, no way was it a spot kick. Moreover Philly were VERY lucky to not be down 2 or 3 at the half.

    Agree about the forwards lacking quicker and more incisive service; Adu also made a number or quality runs in the first half when lined up as a striker and was constantly in space but never got the pass. The second half was much better–having Adu drop back and play more centrally saw better possession. Josue Martinez also looked very good.

    And I agree, McMath needs to lay off the fried chicken and buttered corn on the cob before a match… He had sloppy hands all night and his positioning was a nightmare.
    Senè’s shot was a good one, but there were several moments where the kid was comical last night.

    Best of luck to the Revs, though– strong team with talented players with a great history. I hope they see better days (just not when they play the Union!)

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  5. Revs have OK talent, but lack grit and fire and personality (other than Heaps on the sideline).

    They are desperately in need of a dominating CB who can organize things back there and demand that the midfield track back better.

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  6. A few thoughts on this game:

    – The ref was as bad as I’ve seen all season. It seems like every season sees an improvement in quality of play and no such improvement in officiating. Terrible calls and I think Jay Heaps was going to have an aneurysm. He was going ballistic.

    – McInerney was very wasteful and poor but he scored the game winner so all is good.

    – Macmath is officially shaky. He looked bad on the goal, he looked lost on corners and his saves result in rebounds going in the middle of the box. For every good thing he does, he does one or two bad. We’re about 20 games into the season and he hasn’t show signs of improving. Ugh.

    – Sheanon Williams was a beast in the second half. He took Kelyn Rowe apart at least four times in a row.

    – The Philly forwards (McInerney and Hoppenot in particular) aren’t rewarded for their runs. The midfielders don’t release the ball quickly enough so runs behind the defense have to be held and the advantage is lost. Philly midfielders play the ball too slowly.

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  7. Just like Zarek Valentin is a better defender than Omobi Okugo and Teal Bunbury is a better forward than Terrence Boyd, Andrew Wooten, Will Bruin, etc.

    Akron 4 Lyfe!!!

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  8. As a Union fan I’m happy for the full 3 but with all the opportunities that the Revs had against the leaky Philly back line I would have been surprised to get 1. True it wasn’t a penalty but I feel that the Union have had so many bad calls against them this year they were bound to catch a break at some point. Common the U!!!

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  9. Ref ruined the game, probably took 1 point (but possibly all 3) away from New England. There were two handballs in the box, (one by each team). Neither of those were called but this phantom call outside the box was a penalty.

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  10. The foul that led to the PK… if it even was one… was clearly outside the area.

    Yet another example of a MLS Ref ruining a game with a poor call and robbing the Revs of at least 1 point

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