Looking lost and overmatched at home while in the thick of a playoff hunt, the Philadelphia Union dug deep and came up with perhaps a season-altering rally.
Sebastien Le Toux scored twice, and Freddy Adu scored his first goal since joining the Union and his first MLS goal since 2007 to help the Union battle back from a 4-1 halftime deficit and tie the New England Revolution, 4-4, on a wild night at PPL Park.
Le Toux volleyed home a ball that bounced off Veljko Paunovic's shoulder in the second minute of second-half stoppage time for the equalizer to cap off the comeback and salvage a point for the Union. Philadelphia is still in position to nab a postseason berth (35 points, tied for third in the Eastern Conference) but would have surely been deflated had it suffered a home loss to the Revs, a team that has struggled to score and win on the road all season.
New England, which entered the game tied for the fewest goals scored in the league, tallied four times in the first half and had the Union on their heels throughout the opening 45 mintues. Rookie centerback A.J. Soares started the onslaught in the 9th minute with a free header off a free kick, which was followed by a Rajko Lekic penalty 12 minutes later.
Moncef Zerka, who was making his MLS debut, headed home a Chris Tierney cross to the far post in the 25th minute, and Benny Feilhaber cancelled out Roger Torres' splendid goal with a wonderful shot of his own, beating rookie goalkeeper Zac MacMath with a low shot from outside the area that tucked inside the left post in the 33rd minute.
Adu, who played all 90 minutes, started the second-half surge for Philadelphia in the 54th minute off a well-worked combination with second-half substitute Danny Mwanga. The first overall pick in the 2010 draft played a ball out left to Adu, who had space to work with in the box before slotting a left-footed shot past Matt Reis to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Le Toux got the Union a step closer in the 79th minute, scoring from the penalty spot after he was taken down in the area by Pat Phelan on a set-piece opportunity. Phelan suffered a blow to the head and had to exit the game after the Revolution had already used its three substitutes, giving the Union a man advantage for the final push that resulted in the equalizer.
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And he can finish…
6 is too few. And how to account for the Conferences? RSL and Colorado would be out if it started today.
8 I could go with, but CUSA, POR, NYRB, and DCU would be on the outside looking up at the moment. There would be more “dead” games with 8 than with 10. 10 teams aint that bad for keeping a lot of teams still interested. Currently only 5 are really on the outside [NER, VAN, TFC, SE, CHI].
Was at the match and you “insight” on Adu couldn’t have been further from the truth. He was active all night and played very well.
If NE can get Coria back on the field, they can make a late season push. They should try McCarthy on the backline. Defense is the only issue at this point.
+1