Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Union
Carson, Calif. (May 25, 2014) – The Philadelphia Union fell, 4-1 to the LA Galaxy on the road at StubHub Center Saturday night as a last minute penalty kick from Maurice Edu was not enough to overcome four goals from the Galaxy, including two from Landon Donovan.
Boosted by a Galaxy goal scored in the second minute, Donovan nabbed his 135th and 136th goals in MLS regular season play, surpassing Jeff Cunningham to become the League’s all-time leading goal scorer on his first goal.
“It was our own errors and I felt like we gifted [Los Angeles] the game,” said Union midfielder Maurice Edu, fresh off a call-up with the U.S. men’s national team. “We gave some goals to them, but in saying that, we have another game on Saturday here in LA again and it’s a chance for us to find a way to get back on the right track.”
Brazilian midfielder Leonardo kicked off the score sheet in the second minute, redirecting a header past Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath. The Union would press following the goal, creating chances of its own, but were unable to find the net. It was the quick counter attacking nature of the Galaxy and miscues from the Union defense that found the Galaxy (4-3-3, 15 points) finishing off four of its nine shots on goal. Galaxy forward Robbie Keane scored his seventh of the season directly off a Union miscue in the second half.
The Union would pull one back in the closing moments of this match as second half substitute Zach Pfeffer was fouled in the box by Galaxy homegrown player Raul Mendiola. It was the second game in a row in which Pfeffer’s play on the ball led to a Union attempt from the spot. Maurice Edu buried the penalty kick attempt.
“We can’t give up a goal two minutes into the game and play from behind,” Union midfielder Danny Cruz said. “Obviously, if you look at the end the result you can see that it’s a poor performance and we aren’t happy. We just can’t start a game like that and we continue to do it week in and week out…eventually, it takes a toll on you.”
The Union will remain on the West Coast to train all week and return to the StubHub Center to face Chivas USA (10 p.m., Comcast SportsNet) before returning back to PPL Park for one more MLS match before the break for June’s FIFA World Cup when Vancouver comes to PPL Park on June 7 (7 p.m.).
“Towards the end of the game, I thought we played with no fear,” said Edu. “And that’s when I thought we started to look better, play better created some more chances and look a little more lively and look more like ourselves. We just need to now find a way to do that for 90 minutes.”
BOX SCORE
LA Galaxy 4, Philadelphia Union 1
Saturday, May 25; 8:00 p.m. ET
StubHub Center
Carson, California
SCORING SUMMARY
LA: Leonardo (Donovan) 2’
LA: Donovan (Keane) 49’
LA: Keane 64’
LA: Donovan (Keane) 81’
PHI: Edu
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
LA: Juninho
UNION STARTING 11
MacMath, Fabinho, Williams, Okugo, Gaddis, Carroll, Edu, Nogueira, Fernandes, Cruz, Hoppenot.
SPORTING STARTING 11
Penedo, DeLaGarza, Leonardo, Meyer, Gargan, Zardes, Juninho, Walker, Husidic, Keane, Donovan.
