By KEITH HICKEY

CHESTER – The Philadelphia Union twice fought back from one-goal deficits to earn penalties and a point at home against FC Dallas. Dallas finished the first half with a 2-1 advantage courtesy of Maicon Santos and Brek Shea against a Sebastien Le Toux spot kick, but had no answer for Le Toux's second effort late on.

Newly-acquired Union midfielder Freddy Adu made his Philadelphia debut and was welcomed in the pre-game introductions with a roar from the crowd as loud as, if not surpassing, that which traditionally greets fan favorite Le Toux. He left to a similar chorus of applause when he left the match in the 62nd minute.

Adu was candid about his debut. "It was good. You've got to get the first one out of the way, I'm just glad we didn't lose the game.

"Me personally, I've got to get involved more, obviously, but that comes with a little bit of time"

A stifling Dallas midfield kept the former prodigy from making too much of an impact, with the home side kept to counters down the flank  for much of the first half, while Brek Shea was impressive early on and dangeous all game long for the visiting team.

Dallas took an early lead, Maicon Santos pressuring well and capitalizing on a Carlos Valdes error soon after the quarter hour mark. Valdes might have been better served shielding Santos away and allowing Faryd Mondragon to collect, but he chose to kick at the ball, and his hash of a clearance gave Santos an easy opener.

Dallas defender George John might have counted himself lucky to only see yellow after a cynical obstruction on Sebastien Le Toux, and Freddy Adu certainly deserved his caution for a lunge from behind at Zach Loyd.

The Union netted a leveller with a Sebastien Le Toux penalty in the 34th, after Justin Mapp went down in the box under a shove in the back from Ugo Ihemelu. Low, hard, and to the left of an outstretched Kevin Hartman, it was Le Toux's first goal since April, a shocking drought for a player who had found the net fourteen times the previous season. 

Dallas then reclaimed the lead just before halftime, when Brek Shea pounced on a deflection off the post. Faryd Mondragon had been able to redirect Martin Chavez's shot under him, but could not hold on, and it was a simple task for the Dallas winger to finish, putting him into double digits for the season.

The home team was given a boost when George John was shown a second yellow and ejected in the 81st for a tackle from behind on Mwanga. Dallas's confident control was shattered as they scrambled to deal with a re-invigorated Union attack.

Dallas's defensive disarray was on full display when Jair Benitez hauled down Gabriel Farfan six minutes from the end of regulation. Le Toux again went low and hard left, and again PPL Park exploded with delight.

Sebastien Le Toux was relieved to end his scoring drought. "It's great. I'm happy. It was on pks if people really want to talk about it, but I don't really care. it was important for me. We came back today, it was a huge point. We played very well, but after two little mistakes, we have to come back twice, and we did it, so that's good for us.

Pressing desperately, the Union twice came close to a dramatic winner, only to be denied by the decisive interventions of Kevin Hartman. Danny Mwanga's powerful shot from close range was re-directed over the bar, while a Keon Daniel header following a corner kick was brilliantly parried by the Dallas keeper.

Even Peter Nowak paid grudging tribute to the veteran shot-stopper after the game. "Because of Hartman, I think, we didn't win the game. At the end of the game, he made pretty good saves."

Hartman was disappointed not to have secured a victory that seemed so close for much of the game.

"We really feel like we lost a few points tonight. We certainly had the upper hand the majority of the game but unfortunately George (John) was red-carded and they were given two PKs. We just have to make sure that we can deal with that stuff and make sure that we come back. I thought that we had a good run of play away from home; I thought we were fairly solid until they went a man up and we had to come up with some plays on the defensive side of stuff."

Hartman also refused to take his team's record against Philadelphia for granted, despite being unbeaten in four meetings with the Union.

"This is a league where there’s quite a bit of equality amongst the teams," Hartman said. "The fact that we haven’t lost to them yet doesn’t mean that it’s not the next one. We have to make sure that we’re always prepared.

"They certainly have quality throughout their side and to be honest, I thought they had enough opportunities tonight that they definitely could have grabbed the full three points. We really just kind of look at their strengths and make sure that we’re prepared for it but it’s certainly something that as a group we’re proud to have gotten out of here tonight with a point."