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The Union could not capitalize as they fall 2-1 against a 10 man Colorado team. Philadelphia put in a dominating performance controlling the tempo and possession but not on the scoreboard. A blunder by goalie Zach McMath let in the first goal for the Rapids in the 55th minute. The Union caught a break in the 57th minute when Jeff Larentowitz got his second yellow for a poor tackle against Keon Daniel. Down a man, the Rapids scored a second goal off a Cascio shot that deflected off McMath’s leg. The Union’s new signing Pajoy netted a header off of a Roger Torres cross to bring the Union within 1.
The Union showed some improvement but there still is a cloud of uncertainty around the team. Goalie McMath gave up a costly first goal. McMath has shown he has trouble holding onto the ball and comes off his line too early. The second year goalie did not get alot of help from the defense. Left back Porfirio Lopez showed he is a liability on defense. Lopez is consistently beaten and makes errant passes. On the opposite side Sheanon Williams seemed to give up on defense. He rarely went back and was often playing alongside the midfielders. Center back Carlos Valdes seemed to have multiple miscues between fill-in Chris Albright.
The midfield looked better but lacked creativity which inevitably cost the Union. They lacked width and worked the ball through the middle of the pitch. Far too often they would try a chip over the back line. The Union created several chances but only a few actually caused Rapids goalie, Matt Pickens to make the save.
Up top Pajoy looked strong in his position but his strike partner looked lost. It is clear Danny Mwanga is lacking in confidence. Various times he held the ball too long and run into defenders or Danny would pass up an open shot. Danny is a striker, he is paid to score goals, it would be a good sign for Danny to run with his head up and take shots from long range that would test the goalie. Pajoy, who made several threatening runs but did not test the goal much and did not record a clean shot on goal.
The talking point of the night was the decision to bench captain Danny Califf. It appears there has been a fallout between star defender Califf and coach Nowak. Nowak claimed that the captain was injured but when asked about the injury Califf seemed baffled. He claims to not know what injuries his manager is talking about. If Nowak claims Califf was injured then why was he on the bench? Danny was seen warming up and participating with the rest of the team.
Let’s look at this scenario. Peter Nowak is not one to make amends. Both coach and owners have no loyalty to the players. This is proven with the fact that every year the team has been blown up and revamped. Jordan Harvey, LeToux, Shea Salinas, Christian Arreta, Fred, and Alejandro Moreno are some players who wanted to continue their time in Philly but were traded away or cut.
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