Point Taken, Union Draw Crew

The Philadelphia Union got a hard fought draw against eastern rivals Columbus Crew with a score of 1-1. The goals coming from Jack McInerney and Dominic Oduro. The Union desperately needed points coming off of lackluster performance in Newark. The Union got a desired result that could help them out down the road. This is the type of game the Union would have loss last year, we saw cohesion and a counter attack that provided the goal for the Union. Although, the Union did get the point this game, it left the Union with a bad taste in their mouth. Simple put the Union should have won the game.

Starting off in the first half the Union came out with a new starting lineup. They started Casey and McInerney up top and LeToux on the bench. The positives of Casey were shown as he proved to be a force in the box and did a stellar job stretching the defense. He also provided a few solid thrown balls to jump start a counter attack. One thing was the Union did not capitalize on Casey’s size. When the Union play Casey their has to be a steady supply of crosses in the air. Casey missed an easy goal when he was unable to put the ball on target in front of an open net.  McInerney had an average game not really creating on his own but he was able to capitalize and score a tap in goal off a Danny Cruz pass. All in all the Union attack in the first half was unable to capitalize on a number of chances and should have scored 2 or 3 goals.

The second half was the same story as the first half, just with less possessions. The Union were unable to hold the ball sustainability and resorted to dump and chase. Normally dump and chase is a poor option but do to the super speed of sub Hoppenot it actually worked. The Union were able to use Hoppenot’s speed to create a  few chances that all resulted in the Union unable to capitalize. The Union outshout the Crew and put more shots on target but were unable to capitalize.

The defense was solid and held as a constant, they kept the Crew’s big guns at bay. Jeff Parke and Okugo held strong for majority of the game. They had one or two lapses and one of those lapses resulted in a goal for Crew. In all fairness the Crew held majority of possession and were pressing in on the Union. With the Union unable to hold possession it was only a matter of time till the defense broke. Dominic Oduro used his speed to break through the defense and beat MacMath near post.

The Union need to work on possession and holding it to methodically build the attack. They subbed in LaHoud to be a more defensive player and weather the storm but that plan backfired. The Union should have went with Kleberson. The Brazilian would have been able to create some plays, string some passes and hold the ball. Although he has never played for the Union, we know the skills Kleberson brings to the table. The Union need to hold possession and create scoring chances.

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