Although Philadelphia Union took a first half lead, Zlatan Ibrahimovic dragged his team back into the match and scored a second half winner to lead LA Galaxy to a road win. Although the Union were in control in the opening forty-five minutes, they were punished for mistakes as the match wore on.
Sapong back on the scoresheet
For the first time since late April, CJ Sapong rippled the net with a smart reaction shot to put the Union ahead early. Jim Curtin has continued to turn to Sapong despite the striker’s dry spell, and the coach will hope this goal opens the floodgates for a notoriously streaky scorer.
Even more promising, Sapong had four shots on the night and put three of them on frame, marking his first match with multiple shots since the Union defeated Vancouver Whitecaps on Sebastien Le Toux’s Ring of Honor night in June.
Good chances go in
The Union only gave up three shots in the box in the first half and blocked two of them. But in the second frame, the Galaxy took advantage of an early mistake to jump on top. Jonathan Dos Santos stepped in front of a pass from Ale Bedoya and found Ibrahimovic in space. With Mark McKenzie too far away to close down the big striker, Ibrahimovic turned, looked the center back to the outside, and played Ola Kamara behind the defensive line.
Those moments of awareness are part of what sets Ibra apart from other strikers, and his ability to manipulate the defense to create an ideal passing lane changed the momentum of the contest. Philly sought to return fire by pushing forward quickly, but in doing so they gave up the ball movement that had let them control the match.
Dre does his best
Even though he gave up three goals, Andre Blake had himself a night. After throwing up an arm to stone Gio Dos Santos in the first half, Blake made five more saves and fought a swirling wind to keep the Union in the match.
Blake’s best save may have come in the 40th minute when he tracked a swerving long shot from Ibrahimovic and dropped late to push it around the post.
