Despite clearly being the better side on Saturday, thePhiladelphia Union managed a single pointin a 1-1 draw versus visiting Toronto FC.
Truth be told,even though they were far better than Toronto, the teammost likely would have lost all three points, had Toronto'syoung left back Ashtone Morgan not taken a foolish secondyellow card that put his team a man down in the closingminutes.
On a day when the Union had the following edgewise statistically…
- 18-6 shot attempts
- 10-2 shots on target
- 8-0 corner kicks
- 63.4-36.6 percent ball possession
…it still didn't add up to a win, like you would expectafter reading those stats.
For Toronto, Joe Bendik had a career game in goal for Toronto. He made nine saves on the day, taking at leastfour sure goals away from the Union. It was as good a goalkeeping performance as I have seen from a visitinggoalkeeper in this fourth season of Union soccer.
On the plus side for the Union, Conor Casey worked hardall game long, playing a full 90 and leading the club withseven shots, including three on goal. Jack McInerney came
throughagain with a game-tying goal, among his four shots, in 90minutes of work.
Off the bench, Antoine Hoppenot provided another spark,nearly coming up with the game winner in stoppage time.
We also saw in 11 minutes, the vision and the skill ofBrazilian midfielder Kleberson. Even though he barelyknows his teammates, let alone the league, you could seethe quality in the way he read the game, and on each touchthat he had.
If the club can generate as many quality chances on Sundayat D.C. United, you would think they might get a better result.United has struggled all season, winning just once in six games,sitting at the bottom of MLS’ Eastern Conference.
They have lostthree straight games, including two at home. Injuries for sure have been a factor, but when you score just twice in six games, it's nota recipe for winning. Allowing seven goals in six games isn't bad,as long as you are also averaging at least one goal per gameon offense.
Read: Series history: Union-D.C. United
Former Union players Carlos Ruiz and LionardPajoy are members of this 2013 D.C. United roster, but asalways the player to watch is Dwayne DeRosario. Whenhealthy (which has not been the case for much of this season) De Rosario is one of the top players in the game. He and Chris Pontius are thetwo players the Union must pay close attention to on Sunday.
Sunday's game from Washington D.C.’s RFK Stadium can be seen at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
