Philadelphia Union cruised to a 2-0 win over New England Revolution on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 16,452 at Talen Energy Stadium. Philadelphia will have a rare off week next Saturday, but will return to action on March 17 when they host Columbus Crew SC.
The first big chance of the night came in the sixth minute for New England. A solid run from Cristian Penilla into the Philadelphia 18 gave Juan Agudelo a large amount of space with just Union goalkeeper Andre Blake to beat. Fortunately for Philadelphia, the Jamaican international came up big and made a monster save to keep the match scoreless.
The match turned upside down in the 24th minute of play after New England defender Antonio Mlinar Delamea was issued a red card. Union forward CJ Sapong found himself behind the Revs backline, leaving Delamea no choice but to grab Sapong and take him to the ground. The official ruled that New England denied Sapong an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and issued the Revs a red card.
Philadelphia dominated possession once they were up a man and ultimately capitalized in the 43rd minute. Union Homegrown Anthony Fontana made his MLS debut and had a night to remember. Fontana notched his first career goal and gave Philadelphia a much desired 1-0 lead at halftime. The goal was set up after Alejandro Bedoya sent a ball across the middle of the box which deflected off the leg of Sapong and found the feet of Fontana. The Delaware native buried home the opportunity to get his first career MLS goal.
The second half started the same as the tail end of the first half with Philadelphia controlling the ball and asserting themselves as the faster club. Blake continued to keep the Revs off the board and in the 69th minute Sapong scored a nice goal to extend the Philadelphia lead to 2-0. The goal was set up by the determination of Cory Burke. The Jamaican international used grit and determination to keep possession of the ball and feed Sapong at the near post and Sapong took care of the rest to give the Union their insurance goal.
The Union settled in and finished off the match in a professional matter to lock up three points at home. Philadelphia will be back in action in two weeks when they play host to Columbus Crew SC on March 17 and the contest will be televised on 6abc.
