Philadelphia probably won't be heading to the playoffs in their inaugural season but the Union continue to play solidly at home, defeating a reeling Chivas USA 3-0 on Saturday afternoon following a 10-day break.
The Union capitalized on some early pressure in the 25th minute when Alejandro Moreno directed home a Justin Mapp corner kick for his second goal of the season. Moreno had gone just wide with a diving header just 10 minutes earlier.
Philadelphia doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime when Fred put home a rebound from close range. Sebastien Le Toux's free kick from just wide of the box found the foot of Moreno, forcing a stellar save from Zach Thorton but the ensuing rebound fell to Fred who had little trouble finding the wide-open net from five yards out.
Le Toux completed the rout with a deflected free kick from 25 yards out in the 68th minute. Le Toux earned the free kick after Michael Umana was yellow carded for kneeing the Frenchman in the head following an altercation between the two players. Philadelphia goalkeeper Brad Knighton produced a couple of class saves in the final 20 minutes to earn his second-straight shutout.
Here are the match highlights:
With the win Philadelphia improve their record to 5-2-5 at PPL Park while Chivas' road woes continue, having won only twice away from home.
What did you think of the match? Impressed with Philadelphia? Think Chivas USA need another coaching change, or simply more talent?
Share your thoughts below.
I heard moreno kissed the badge. Guess he wants to stay next year but will he be protected?
As a Union ticket holder I am happy they won but that was the most boring football I’ve seen them play all year. But a win is a win I suppose.
The thing with Klinsmann is, he never really accomplished anything.
3rd Place Germany WC
– Previous WC result was 2nd place, follwoing WC results was 3rd place, thus he didn’t do anything special with them (and the previous and following coach didn’t have the comfort of being in europe let alone being the host country)
2nd place Bayern Munich
– Previous season BM won league and cup. Following coach/season after Klinsi won league and 2nd place Champions league
In all acounts Klinsmann always has done less well as his successors and predecessors…
By that logic, Carlos Queiroz’s failure with Portugal means that Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t a good manager. I don’t disagree that Klinsmann isn’t a sure thing, but a manager will always support his former assistants.
1. I’ve heard that Le Toux has a green card. That isn’t the same as having citizenship. Am I wrong–is he now officially a US citizen? If so, he’s eligible for a callup. But if it’s a green card, then he isn’t.
2. I know there’s a tendency to view Juergen Klinsman as the second coming and a guy who we desperately needed as a NT coach. Maybe he would be a huge asset. But something to make people think and pause just a little bit was that Martin Vasquez was his choice as an assistant at Bayern. You’d have though that with all the experience (as a player with the MFL and MLS, as an assistant with a couple of clubs including Bayern), and then especially Klinsi’s blessing that he’d have had a much better year. Instead, I look at the train wreck that Chivas has become and you have to both appreciate the job Preki did and also think less of Vasquez (which also reflects at least a little on Klinsmann).
Time to call in Le Toux now that he has his citizenship. He is not the next big thing, or even have a real high ceiling, but you can’t ignore 13 goals and 10 assists.
With our lack of forwards currently, and the Gold Cup right around the corner, we need to make sure we have the best of what we have at the time available.
man that LeToux dude is quite good. Any chance a French team could swoop in for him perhaps on loan?