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Le Toux’s hat trick seals Union’s first win

PhillyCelebrates (ISIphotos.com)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By AVI CREDITOR

PHILADELPHIA – Sebastien Le Toux's hat trick capped off a wild home opener for the Philadelphia Union, as the expansion team defeated regional rival D.C. United 3-2 at Lincoln Financial Field Saturday night.

Le Toux's 20-yard free kick found a seam in United's wall and eventually the back of the net to break a 2-2 tie in the 80th minute and deliver the Union the franchise's first victory. The free kick was set up by a Dejan Jakovic red card, after the United defender was sent off for fouling Alejandro Moreno.

Le Toux kicked off the scoring by headed home a Roger Torres cross in the fourth minute to score the Union's first-ever goal.

He tallied again in the 40th minute on a counterattack off a United corner. After the Union cleared the threat, Moreno found himself with the ball on the left side in his own end with the defense closing in on him. He lofted a perfect through ball toward the center of the field, where Le Toux ran onto the pass in stride. He confidently struck a low ball at the edge of the penalty area past United keeper Troy Perkins for a 2-0 Union edge.

D.C. United scored two goals in a six-minute span to shockingly pull even. Santino Quaranta's left-footed blast from distance in the 63rd minute beat Chris Seitz to snap United's scoreless streak to start the season at 253 minutes.

Halftime sub Jaime Moreno leveled the score in the 69th minute by duping Seitz into dropping the ball when he was attempting to punt it away. The D.C. veteran pounced on the loose ball, took a touch to create space and rolled a slow, sure shot into the net.

The Union improved to 1-1-0, while United are off to a dismal 0-3-0 start.

Keep checking SBI for more postgame reaction from players and coaches.

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What are your thoughts about the game? Impressed with Le Toux's finishing ability? Think D.C. United can bounce back from another devastating loss? Who else stood out for you?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Thank you Kevin. It’s actually nice to read from someone who thinks before posting. I can’t understand why unemployment in this country is almost at 10% with all the great sports managers and front office guru’s that surround our sports teams. That should be the new gov’t program: make all these very smart people run the teams and if there are some left we can let them run the economy since you can use these really smart ones anywhere.

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  2. Saying that your team has won four MLS Cups to a team that has been in the league for less than one month is a little dumb.

    The “we win tropheys” comments are kind of cool for its fans/kind of annoying for non-fans, but most of all VERY dated.

    But that being said, I am sure most of the DC fans are alright.

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  3. No big Onalfo fan here but…

    “Myself and so many others told DC it was a mistake…we are smarter than the front office” — Yeah, everyone posting on soccer blogs is. I’m sure you’re no exception.

    “…decent Metrostars teams” — Sounds like an oxymoron to me.

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  4. Curt Onalfo is garbage. He is an assistant coach, and should always be. He doesnt even have the countenance of a winner. Myself and so many others told DC it was a mistake to bring the chump in. Apparently we are all smarter than the front office. How about someone like Octavio Zambrano, who actually produced decent Metrostars teams? I dont understand why people like him are ignored….

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  5. The last time we won the Supporter’s Shield, ’07, we lost our first three. So there’s hope. Only difference: that team had talent, this team has nothing unless Moreno is on the field, and he can only last a half.

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  6. Right, because all the Philly fans who booed when Juan Manuel Pena went down, only to be replaced a minute later by Julius James, are just the classiest in the world! Also, they’re so knowledgeable about the game. Clearly, EVERY call against PU was wrong, and EVERY call against DCU, including an inexplicable red card, was applaudable.

    Yep, you should definitely be judging the DC fans.

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  7. I was in the lower section beneath them. Luckily, their lack of arm strength kept us relatively dry (although that classy chick spitting on the club level was interesting.) I felt bad though because there was a youth club a few rows in front of us near the Califf family that got beaned by a half-full big gulp sized soda. Great job DC fans, you nearly cracked a 10 year olds skull.

    Anyway the game itself was absolutely magical, Torres and Moreno linked well, Le Toux made some piercing runs (and should have had another from that breakaway). What a start, and I hope we’ll build on it. C’mon Union!!!

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  8. If the MLS is like our league a straight red and two yellows carries differing suspension lengths (2 match and 1 match respectively), so it does make a difference (assuming the MLS operates a similar policy) though admittedly not on the night. Could still be important though.

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  9. I was in Corsica last summer listening to a French sports radio show. Le Toux was a guest for about 10 minutes talking about MLS and the Sounders, so he hasn’t completely fallen off their radar. My French isn’t perfect, but it was a good interview, and Le Toux was very positive about Seattle, MLS, and his experiences here.

    My stay there also happened to be during the Confederations Cup. It was really interesting to see the unexpected USA run through the eyes of Corsicans. We had a lot of underdog support, especially against Brazil.

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  10. I know, but they haven’t picked it up this season. No-one in the UK has – the only (legal) place I know of to watch any live MLS in the UK is on the betfair website.

    ESPN UK lose half their EPL games after this season though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they picked up the MLS in May/June to fill in an otherwise threadbare schedule. I’m hoping at least.

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  11. Hat trick for the Frenchman. Who knows, maybe he goes on a goal scoring run and gets mentioned by the French football press.

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  12. what a fiasco for the Union. I am guessing 5,000 fans missed the first goal because the SS were so incompetent. I give credit to the Union/Linc people, because after the SS moved the metal detectors, they didn’t even take tickets. The Linc itself is nice, but was understaffed and not everything was working. Cutting off beer at the 47th minute nearly caused a riot, of course since a lot of the fans didn’t get there until the 30th minute this is more understandable.

    Nice game though.

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  13. One of the 35,000 at the Linc last night. Fantastic atmosphere. My impressions:

    1. Torres is a wonderful young player. I fear for his legs however as the defenders begin to go after him.

    2. Jacobsen and Fred had good work rates but jabobson’s passing is mostly inaccurate.

    3. I hope Seitz got all his jitters out and buys some composure before the next game.

    4. Miglioranzi did a good job in the defensive mid but when he turned to the attack he reminded me that he was a defensive mid.

    5. Overall pleased with the team, as I was after the Seattle game where the passing game up to the 3/4 of the field seemed to be very good for parts of the game.

    Look forward to our second Linc game and hope we can get 25,000 in the stands.

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  14. Yes, I hate the lack of European coverage as well. I have just 2 more months to be on this site of the pond, but I would really like to watch full matches while I’m here.

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  15. just watched the highlights on MLS Soccer (no-one has picked up coverage of the MLS in the UK). A great through ball from Moreno for Union’s 2nd goal – sublime. He looks (from the highlights, I hasten to add) a class apart.

    The keeper needs to sharpen up though. A totally aberration for DC’s 2nd. Even if DC had blocked his kick it would’ve been a foul to the Union, by letting it bounce he gifted the goal. There would have been no more relieved man in the ground than him when Le Toux put his 3rd away.

    And that 3rd goal – never a red card. There were other defenders back so the case of “last man” can’t be made, neither was it a “clear goalscoring opportunity” due to those other defenders, and it wasn’t a dangerous foul. It was no more than a yellow – a bad call from the ref.

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  16. Maybe you shoulda known better putting United fans above anyone. They throw their beers at home what makes you think it’d be any different on the road?

    Depressing match for a United fan, but they showed some fight is still in them.
    2008’s season started with United losing 7 of their first 10 league matches. If it gets that bad I might really start worrying. We kept talking about gellin’ then. I’m not even going to go there right now…

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  17. I was at the game and thought it was trash that the DC fans threw beers over the ledge when they scored a goal… I understand their celebration but there is a limit and you have to be aware of your surroundings. I would have spazzed if I was sitting in the section under them and got hit with a beer. That stuff just doesn’t fly….

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  18. Went to the game, had a great time. A few comments –

    1. Apparently when Joe Biden is in town for a pregame ceremony, it’s necessary to have a full metal detector security screening at the gate. The irony is that no one was even there to see whatever it was Biden was doing. Myself and about 20,000 other fans stopped tailgating and tried to get into the stadium about 25 mins before kickoff, but had to wait 40 mins in line outside the gate (also missed the first goal). Easily forgivable though, given the presence of Secret Service and the fact that this isn’t the real home stadium.

    2. Philly’s not as bad as I feared they might be. The D was mostly solid and only gave up a few good chances, and will get better when Arrieta has time to gel with his linemates. The midfield might end up being above average, as Torres looks very sharp on the ball and distributing and Fred and Jacobsen both put in good work. Le Toux is a perfect workhorse striker, and a great fit for this team. Good on the counter (which I’d predict is where they’ll see most of their opportunities against the league’s better teams) and good in the air. If we can find a way to get Mwanga and Jack Mac some good minutes and allow them to develop, there’s definitely enough talent to be relevant this year and make some leaps into next.

    3. DC United fans are douchenozzles. Okay, sorry that was a bad generalization. More specifically, the DC United fans who were at this game were douchenozzles. When your team just lost to an expansion team, here are a few tips: 1. it’s probably not a good idea to get into arguments in the first place. You just lost and your team is bad, so just bang your drum, get in your cars and go home. No need to try to start ish in this situation. 2. If you do decide to have words, I cannot indulge your “how many cups do you have?” quip. It just doesn’t work in this context. It’s like you were so proud that you came up with that once when you talked to a NY fan that you blindly go back to it, without considering that it makes NO sense whatsoever when used against an expansion team – one who is currently ahead of you in the standings and 1-0 head-to-head lifetime.

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  19. Really incredible atmosphere for the game, especially once everyone was able to get in…dream start and dream end. The gaff in the middle was a nightmare of course but great (and a big relief?) to get that first win of the year. I saw Novak up in one of the team boxes high fiving fans down below, and we went up to congratulate him too–he was seriously pumped. Great job Philly fans, keep coming out. And a big time THANK YOU to SBI and Ives for the tix!

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  20. i’m no d.c. fan but that was a bad call on that red card. there were other defenders around and moreno always dives. the ref should have done better there. a yellow but not a red. but d.c. didn’t deserve a tie–that was a bad play by seitz. what the hell was he thinking? good win for philly they looked way better today than they did last week…

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  21. This is going to be one helluva depressing year, unless we sign someone this summer who scores 30 goals. Waiting for next year… maybe the one after… unless we’re in St. Louis then. Ugh. What has happened to the best franchise in the league?

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  22. A really entertaining game that started what is going to be one hell of a rivalry. DC played pretty well and even though they stole a goal, philly came back. Great game.

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  23. As a philly fan i cannot stress enough that i am elated at this first WIN!!! LeToux was amazing Torres is a money maker and Fred lived up to his hype for me… BUT… BUT BUT BUT… let us not forget that if we would have drawn today i would be calling for chris seitz’s head right now.. what a blunder. i was even saying to myself to “chris wait till moreno is away from you”

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  24. Game atmosphere was great. Letoux worked his butt off, Moreno was very good in the air and connected very well with LeToux. Roger Torres is special. Andrew Jacobson played very well and Jack Mac way too good for his age.

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  25. Just got back from the game and I have to say outside of the hat trick the more I see Torres the more I like him. He makes the guys that play around him better. His ability to get the ball to the right player at the right time under pressure is something that few US players have. Give me 10 more players with his soccer IQ and that team could rule MLS for years.

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