CHESTER, Pa.It wasnt a win, but it was still one of the gutsiest results in the Philadelphia Unions short two-year history.
Wednesday night at PPL Park, the Union overcome a 4-1 halftime deficit to earn a hard-fought 4-4 draw in a wild MLS game filled with all kinds of twists and turns.
Star striker Sbastien Le Toux scored two goals in the final minuteshis fifth and sixth goals of the seasonto lead the comeback, scoring first in the 80th minute on a penalty kick and again in stoppage time to tie the game and give the Union a well-earned point in the standings.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was only the fifth time in MLS history a team came back to earn a result after being down three goals.
I think we showed tremendous character tonight, said Union central back Danny Califf, who was wearing the captains armband in place of injured goalkeeper Faryd Mondragn (broken finger). Its just another affirmation of the unit we built. The guys in the locker room have character. Even with the 4-1 score line, we came into the locker room at halftime and felt we were still in the game. At no point did we give up and think the game was over. We came out with renewed vigor in the second half and took advantage of the fact that they were sitting back.
Before Wednesdays game began, most Union fans and players would have scoffed at the idea that coming away with a tie would be a good result, considering the Revolution (4-11-12) came into PPL Park in last place in the Eastern Conference.
But even though the Union (8-7-11) should have had the upper handespecially because they were playing at home for the first time in more than three weeksthey suffered through one of the more disastrous first halves in franchise history.
With rookie Zac MacMath making his first start in net for the Unionin place of the injured Mondragnthe Revs scored four times before the halftime whistle, getting goals from A.J. Soares, Rajko Lekic, Moncef Zerka and Benny Feilhaber. (Although in fairness to MacMath, who could do very little on most of the goals as the clubs defense sputtered from the start.)
Sparkplug Roger Torres scored one of his own to keep the Union in the game, but the hosts still limped in the locker room trailing, 4-1.
What did manager Peter Nowak say to his troops at halftime?
Nothingthere wasnt much to say, Nowak said. We had a couple of good looks to score a goal and we just missed. There were a couple of calls in the first half that were iffy, but we came out strong in the second half. We looked like in the expansion team from 2010 in the first half.
The Union certainly did not look like an expansion team in the second half. In the 54th minute, second-half substitute Danny Mwanga made a nifty pass to Freddy Adu, who beat New England goalie Matt Reis to make the score 4-2 in favor of the Revs with still plenty of time for left.
For Adu, it was his first goal in MLS since leaving the league for Europe in 2007. The former child prodigy, still working his way back to match fitness, was relieved and excited by his contributions.
I felt pretty good out there, said Adu, who was signed by Philly last month. Ive been training hard all week. Im just getting myself really ready. When I came here, I hadnt played a full 90 minutes since the Gold Cup final, and even then it was 86 minutes. I dont think a lot of people understandtheres a big difference between being fit and being game fit.
With Adu really controlling things up top, the Union continued to attack the Revs with purpose, finally breaking through in the end, thanks to Le Touxs heroics.
But things are not entirely peachy as the fourth-place Union, who return to PPL Park for a game against Portland on Saturday (7:30 P.M. TCN), are still winless in their last seven and need to start getting some victories to reclaim their position near the top of the Eastern Conference.
We didnt win the game, but at the same time it shows a lot about our team, coming back after being down by three goals and tying the game, Mwanga said. But weve still got to work on not giving up so many goals in the first half and spending the rest of the game trying to catch up. I feel like in a game like this, we should take advantage, especially playing at home and especially at this point when were trying to secure a playoff spot.
E-mail Dave Zeitlin at djzeitlin@gmail.com.