A disappointing draw marked a sign of progress for the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night.
Jim Curtin’s men tied 2-2 with the LA Galaxy at Talen Energy Stadium in a game that could’ve easily been won by the home side. Despite earning just one point, the performance against one of the league’s best was a sign of improvement from 2015 for the Union, who would’ve lost this match a year ago.
Keegan Rosenberry netted the game-tying goal in the 63rd minute, but no other tallies were produced by the Union.
Vincent Nogueira opened the scoring for the Union in the fourth minute as he maneuvered around a pair of Galaxy players to slot a shot past Dan Kennedy.
Fabinho started the move for the hosts as he played a cross in the direction of C.J. Sapong from the left wing. Jelle van Damme cleared the initial cross, but the ball dropped to Nogueira. Mike Magee deflected the Frenchman’s first shot, but neither Magee or Leonardo could reach Nogueira before he shot the ball. The goal was the first of the season for Nogueira, who last scored on July 11, 2015.
Robbie Rogers leveled the contest 11 minutes later as he finished off a brilliant team move started by Robbie Keane, who delivered a splendid ball to Giovani dos Santos. The Mexico international played a clever pass toward Rogers, who sent a shot into the top-left corner of the net past Andre Blake.
Bruce Arena’s side sent its second goal of the night into the back of the net in the 47th minute, when Magee received a nice pass from Steven Gerrard and powered a shot into the right part of the net.
A few minutes after Tranquillo Barnetta’s goal was disallowed for offside, Rosenberry cleaned up a mess in front of goal for his first-career MLS tally. Kennedy saved Pontius’ header off a corner, but the ball remained in front of the LA netminder until Sebastien Le Toux dropped the ball back to Rosenberry.
Pontius came close to putting the Union ahead in the 69th minute, but his shot from the left side of the box moved just a few feet wide of the right post.
The Union controlled the rest of the match after Rosenberry scored, but they were unable to beat Kennedy for a third time.When the final whistle blew, the excitement of the home fans for the final 30 minutes turned into disappointment as the Union dropped two points at home.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Keegan Rosenberry made a few key plays in the late the match. The rookie right-back netted the equalizer in the 63rd minute and denied dos Santos and Keane in quick succession near the left edge of the box in the latter stages of the second half.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Rosenberry’s goal from close range sent the crowd at Talen Energy Stadium into an uproar and it handed the Union 27 minutes of total domination in the Galaxy half of the pitch.
MATCH TO FORGET
Dan Kennedy committed a terrible blunder on the Union’s equalizer in the 63rd minute as he let the ball dribble in front of him before Le Toux kicked out of his reach. The second Union tally created a ton of momentum that the home side benefited from for the rest of the contest.
In other news, Chester, PA has been renamed Rosenberryville.
I really do not know why Arena put Kennedy in ahead of Rowe. Rowe has been having a steady year, making few mistakes. His athleticism is maybe not be the highest, but he positions well, make few mistakes and has a pretty good cannon on his goal kicks.
Kennedy was awful when he came back after injury and played in one or two games for Los Dos, Just awful! I counted more than 8 goals kicks that failed to reach past the center-line, three or four were muffed and only a few reached Zardes the presumable target forward. The first goal was conceded as Kennedy did not react and come out of the box fast enough after Magees block, the second goal was was allowed by Kennedy making not one, but two GK errors. BAD.
Maybe Rowe was hurt, maybe Arena needed to start Kennedy to give him one more shot as a starter. Whatever the reason, it costs the Galaxy two points.
It seems that Arena is continually snake-bit when it comes to GK’s, Ricketts,Saunders, Penedo, Cudicini, all fill the halls of “Great fails of Galaxy GK’s” at one time or another.
I have been watching a lot of Los Dos USL games and Clement Diop has really impressed. He has an MLS contract now but needs some games. He needs a shot more than Kennedy does. I think Bruce is saving him for Open Cup duty.
If Rowe was healthy for his game, and Arena selected Kennedy, I think you can pin this game and the loss of points directly on Arena.
I didn’t see this game, but I have been saying for a while that Rowe should be the starter. He is steady, and plays a much more modern version of the position, coming out to challenge through balls much more than Kennedy’s old-school shot-stopper style. I always felt Kennedy’s rep was over enhanced by the sheer number of saves he was required to make with Chivas. Also, I liked Pinedo, but it is true that his time ended disastrously, and cost the Galaxy the season.