The Philadelphia Union went into Wednesday night wary of facing a struggling Toronto FC side likely to be inspired by the hiring of a new coach.
In the end, Greg Vanney’s appointment as TFC’s new head coach wasn’t enough to propel the visiting Canadian club to victory, as the Union rode a Conor Casey goal to a 1-0 victory on Wednesday night at PPL Park.
TFC saw their winless streak extended to five matches on a night that saw their attack fail to break through for the second straight match. Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath returned the starting lineup and made a strong claim to keep the starting job with a three-save outing that included a key second-half stop on a Gilberto breakaway. Along with that save MacMath also stepped up to break up several TFC threats by racing off his line to intercept dangerous passes.
MacMath’s key save came just two minutes after Casey delivered the game’s only goal, converting a Sebastien LeToux pass in the 55th minute.
Toronto FC did create some scoring chances, but couldn’t finish any of them. TFC saw their comeback chances dealt a major blow when Ashtone Morgan was shown a straight red card in the 77th minute after bringing down LeToux on a breakaway.
The Union closed out the victory to push their record to 3-1 in their past four match. The result helped the Union pull into a three-way tie on points with Toronto FC and the Columbus Crew for the final two playoff spots in the East. TFC’s third loss in four matches has them on the brink of falling out of playoff position.
The Union and Toronto FC play each other again on Saturday at BMO Field.
here are the match highlights:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73f-zBM7iSw?list=UUSZbXT5TLLW_i-5W8FZpFsg]
What did you think of the match? Starting to think TFC could miss the playoffs yet again? See the Union pushing their way into the playoffs?
Share your thoughts below.