Philadelphia Union vs. Chivas USA: Third Goal is The Charm

The Philadelphia Union hosted Chivas USA at PPL Park on Saturday night, just three days after a scoreless draw against Sporting Kansas City on the same pitch moved them into a tie with the New York Red Bulls for first place.

The first half of action was fast paced as the Union, in their new 4-1-3-2 formation, pressed the action and forced the pace of play. Despite four corner-kicks and three shots on goal, Philadelphia was unable to score in the first half. They entered the locker room at half time trailing 1-0 after Michael Umana flipped a header past Union GK Faryd Mondragon (off a Chivas corner) to notch the lone goal in the first.

The second half proved to be much more dramatic. Tension spilled over from a first half that saw long “injury” delays from Chivas and off-sides calls that had the crowd at PPL Park chanting less than favorable comments at the linesman and referee.

In the 48th minute,Veljko Paunovic harnessed the tension, took the ball down field and fired home his first MLS goal to tie the game at 1-1. The goal broke a streak of 294 minutes without a goal for Philadelphia, broke it wide open. The Philadelphia fans went crazy with the goal, and the gasps would continue from there. Shots by both teams rattled off the cross bars before Carlos Ruiz finally broke the tie with a goal in the 69th minute (his 4th of the season) off of a beautiful pass from Paunovic.

Just eight minutes later, Justin Braun beat Mondragon to knot the game at 2-2.

Entering the game as a sub, Danny Mwanga (who had missed the previous game with an injury) took a pass from Sebastian Le Toux, squared up, and scored Philadelphia’s third goal of the half. The Sons of Ben, and the rest of the 18,000+ fans on hand, went completely bonkers! It would prove to be the game winner as Philadelphia took the match 3-2 to earn three points. The Union now sit alone in first place in the East.

“I thought the game was pretty similar for both halves,” said Chivas coach Robin Fraser. “After we scored the first goal, we played too tight. As a result, we put ourselves under a tremendous amount of pressure. In the second half, we played a little bit better, but we made too many mistakes.”

The Union will look to capitalize of their second half scoring frenzy this Saturday when they travel to our nation’s capital to take on the DC United at RFK Stadium (7pm). It is the first of three consecutive road games for Philadelphia before returning home to play friendly matches against Everton at PPL Park on July 20th and Real Madrid at Lincoln Financial Field on July 23rd. Their next MLS home game takes place on July 29th when they host Colorado.

[photo credit: Christian Hafer, story by Christian Hafer & Jacob Miller]

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Philadelphia Union vs. Sporting KC: No Scoring, Isn’t Always Boring

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The Philadelphia Union hosted Sporting KC on Wednesday night at PPL Park, needing just one point to tie the New York Red Bulls for first place in the East. Sporting KC sat in last place, a full ten points behind New York.

A crowd of over 18,000 soccer fans (including the infamous Sons of Ben in the River End) packed PPL Park on this hazy, hot, and humid night hoping for a Union win and a return to first place. Forward Carlos Ruiz, who had been playing in the Gold Cup, returned to Philadelphia and started the game for the Union.

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Midfielder Veljiko Paunovic made his first start for the Union at PPL Park alongside Jack McInerney, Brian Carroll, and Justin Mapp. Forward Danny Mwanga sat out the game with an injured right knee.

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Philadelphia certainly had its’ chances to score in this match. They managed 19 shots in the contest with 7 of them right on target, but none of them were able to find the back of the net. An impressive kick save by Sporting KC goalkeeping Jimmy Nielsen (at whom Union fans chanted “Bridget Nielsen” during the entire first half) stopped a shot by McInerney in the 27th minute that easily could have put Philadelphia up 1-0.

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In the second half, they had three chances in particular to score but couldn’t capitalize. The first came in the 72nd minute on a beautiful pass from Sebastian Le Toux to Ruiz but Ruiz’s header banged off the cross bar.

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The second came just five minutes later (77th minute) on a thunderous strike from Mapp, but was nullified on a diving save from Nielsen.

The last one came in the 80th minute when a shot by Le Toux skipped past the right post.

Alas, the Union finished the game with out a goal (their second match in a row without scoring after losing 1-0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps on the road). Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon pitched yet another shutout for Philadelphia but really wasn’t tested as the Union defense kept Sporting KC’s offense to a minimum.

The Union were riding an impressive eight game home unbeaten streak into the game which now sits at nine straight. They play again this Saturday at PPL when they welcome in Chivas USA who currently sits towards the bottom of the West (just ahead of Vancouver who is in dead last).

The Red Bulls play tonight against Seattle, needing only a draw to retake sole possession of first place.

***In other PPL Park news, Villanova will host University of Delaware in football at PPL Park on November 19th! This will be the first game there for Villanova, which will most likely play all home games at PPL Park if they move up to Division 1 Football.***

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Phillies vs. Marlins: Cliff Lee Reels in Fish to Complete Four Game Sweep

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The Philadelphia Phillies hosted the Florida Marlins in the final game of a four game series at Citizen’s Bank Park on Thursday afternoon. The game, played at 1pm, was the third game between the two teams in 24 hours, following a day/night double-header the day before. After blowout wins by the Phillies in the first two games of the series, Philadelphia was down to its final out on Wednesday evening, trailing by two. With runners on second and third, Shane Victorino knocked a  hit up the middle to tie the game. The Phillies completed the comeback win in the bottom of the 10th inning on a walk-off hit by Carlos Ruiz.

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With the series sweep, and a six game team win streak on the line Thursday, Cliff Lee took the mound for the Fightins (opposed by the Marlin’s Javier Vasquez). Although baseball is a team game, this day would be all about Cliff Lee.

Teach Lee how to Dougy

Half way through the 4th inning, with the game still tied at zero, Lee drove in the first run of the game when he doubled to score Michael Martinez. Later, in the top half of the 5th inning (with two outs), Mike Stanton got the first hit of the game for Florida, breaking up Lee’s no-hitter bid. Heading into the bottom half of the inning, Lee had as many hits (1) and more RBI (1) than the entire Marlins team.

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In the bottom of the 5th, Ryan Howard connected on a solo HR to make it a 2-0 Phillies lead. After Lee allowed no hits in the top of the 6th, Jimmy Rollins doubled to right field in the bottom half of the inning to score Dominic Brown and increase Philly’s lead to 3-0.

Lee only gave up one more hit on the day (in the 7th to Logan Morrison), but also got another hit at the plate, on his way to a two-hit, complete game shut-out of the Marlins. He finished the day tied with the entire Marlins team in hits (2) and his one RBI at the plate was more than he allowed in 9 innings on the mound.

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With the win, the Phillies win streak extends to seven games as the team heads west to take on the Seattle Mariners in interleague play. Lee, who was traded from Philly to Seattle in his first go around with the team, will not pitch against the Mariners.

The Phillies hold the best record in baseball at 44-26. They are five games up on the Atlanta Braves in the division, and hold leads of 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 games over the Mets, Nationals, and last place Marlins.

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Philadelphia Union vs. Real Salt Lake: Luck of the Draw

On an overcast Saturday afternoon at PPL Park, The Philadelphia Union hosted Real Salt Lake in front of a sold-out crowd.

The Union looked like they had scored the game’s first game in the 22nd minute when Sebastian Le Toux sent a ball from teammate Keon Daniel into the net past Salt Lake GK Nick Rimando. However, the goal was quickly called off by the official who said that Daniel had been off-sides when he had received the ball initially from Jordan Harvey.

Moments later, Philadelphia’s Michael Farfan found Daniel in the penalty area where he connected on a header to score his first MLS goal and put the Union on top 1-0.

The Union continued to attack in the first half but shots from Le Toux and Carlos Valdés both nailed the post and despite five shots on goal and four corner kicks, Philadelphia wasn’t able to increase its lead. At the half, the score remained 1-0 in favor of Philadelphia.

Shortly after the second half got underway in the 53rd minute, Farfan turned the ball over to Real Salt Lake forward Jean Alexandre who found Fabián Espíndola in the Philadelphia end. Espindola connected on a long kick past Union GK Faryd Mondragon to tie the game at 1-1.

Despite the added energy from second half substitutes Roger Torres, Justin Mapp, and Jack McInerney, Philadelphia never found their rhythm in the second half and was unable to put the score back into their favor. Philadelphia’s second leading scorer, Carlos Ruiz (three goals), did not play as he is currently playing for his home country in the Gold Cup.

With the tie, the Union fall into a tie for first place with the New York Red Bulls. Their next match will take place over 3,000 miles from home when they travel to Vancouver to take on the White Caps before returning home for home games against Kansas City (June 22nd) and Chivas USA (June 25th).

[Photo credits: Michael Green]

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Phillies vs Reds: Philadelphia Triumphant in Utley’s Return

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The Phillies had played forty six games in 2011 without all-star second baseman Chase Utley and managed to scrap their way to the best record in baseball during that time. For Phillies fans however, things just didn’t feel right. That all changed last night at Citizen’s Bank Park when the Phillies hosted the Cincinnati Reds in the first of a three game series.  When Utley was announced in the starting line-up a roar went up from the crowd. When the Phillies took the field in the top of the 1st inning, things felt right for the first time all season.

Chase Utley's 1st AB of 2011

Cole Hamels quickly downed the Reds in order and after Jimmy Rollins led off the bottom of the 1st with a single, it was time for Utley’s first at-bat of the 2011 season. It was no surprise that he received a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd in south Philadelphia. A few pitches later, Utley drove the ball to deep center field but it was caught just short of the warning track. Fans continued to cheer, Utley was back, his first hit could wait.

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Moments later, Placido Polanco hit a two run HR to left field and, as Roy Halladay would say, things only got funner from there.

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With the score still 2-0 Philadelphia in the bottom of the 3rd inning, the Phillies bats got crazy hot. At the end of the 3rd, capped off by a three run HR by Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies had added another seven runs and held a 9-0 lead.

Jay Bruce hit a three run HR for the Reds in the top of the 4th to cut the lead to six runs but Raul Ibanez knocked a solo shot out of the park in the bottom half of the inning to put the Phillies up 10-3. There would be no scoring, by either team, in the final five innings.

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For the Phillies, the contributions were many. Carlos Ruiz had a 3-for-3 night at the plate. Ryan Howard added two hits as did Rollins, Ibanez, and Polanco who each had a second hit to go along with their HR’s.

Domonic Brown had a hit, as did John Mayberry Jr. who also added a pair of RBI. Even pitcher Cole Hamels got in on the action adding a hit and an RBI to the mix. Ironically, the only Phillies starter that did not record a hit, was Utley, who went 0-5 but continued to get the loudest cheers each time he stepped to the plate. The Phillies ended the game with 14 hits.

Reigning NL MVP Joey Votto went hitless for the Reds. Jay Bruce was the only bright spot for the Reds going 3-for-4. The rest of the team had just two hits total. Scott Rolen, who went 1-for-3, received his traditional Philadelphia round of boos when he was announced before the game and each time he came to the plate.

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Hamels finally got some serious run support and was in no danger of losing the game even after he surrendered the three runs in the forth. He pitched six innings total, earning his 6th win of the season. The Phillies bullpen looked sharp in the 7th, 8th, & 9th. Michael Stutes, Antonio Bastardo, and Danys Baez each pitched a perfect inning. None of them allowed so much as a walk to the Reds.

For the Reds, Bronson Arroyo was responsible for nine of the Phillies runs and was eventually pulled from the game, after the Rollins HR, with two outs in the 3rd.

The two teams meet again on Tuesday night as Vance Worley takes the mound for the Phillies against the Reds’ Johnny Cueto.

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