Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Union
Chester, Pa. (June 24, 2014) – The Philadelphia Union defeated the New York Cosmos, 2-1 in the fifth round of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open behind a brace from Sebastien Le Toux. The Union will now face either the New England Revolution or the Rochester Rhinos on July 8 at PPL Park (7 p.m.).
“This club needs a trophy and now we’re three wins away from a trophy, which is a big thing,” Interim Team Manager Jim Curtin said postgame. “The front office and ownership did a great job getting us home games; if you look through the history of this competition, the team that plays at home usually is the one that comes through. Obviously [D.C. United] last year would be the exception but Seattle all the years they won it, and Chicago when they would win it, it was only because they hosted home games. Now we’ll have a home game next game against either New England or Rochester, it’s a great advantage, and huge opportunity. Three wins in a row and you’re a champion. There are two trophies in this country that you can win and want to lift the Open Cup.”
When the dust settled, five red cards were issued, two of which were members of the Cosmos coaching staff, in addition to players Jimmy Ockford, Ayoze and Union midfielder Michael Lahoud.
The Union once again came from behind and pulled off a dramatic victory, increasing its unbeaten streak to four in all competitions and keeping interim coach Jim Curtin pristine at 2-0 since taking over the club two weeks prior. With that said, the Union now move on to quarterfinal play for the second time in its five-year history.
It was the Cosmos that got on the board first in the 56th minute after forward Alessandro Nocelli took a pass in stride from Danny Szetela and chipped it over goalkeeper Andre Blake. Less than 30 seconds later however, it was Le Toux with his sixth goal of the season in all matches for the Union, finishing off a low-driven ball across the six-yard-box from Andrew Wenger.
Wenger’s ball was well-timed and well-placed as it skipped past the outstretched arms of Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer.
Le Toux would end the affair in the 113th minute when Ockford took down Union midfielder turned defender Maurice Edu in the box. Le Toux made no mistake and converted the penalty kick, making it a perfect 10-for-10 in kicks from the spot in his career with the Union.
“I like this competition,” said Le Toux. “It was a time when I was in Seattle and the USL – twice I finished with I think six goals. It was funny because in one game I just got four. It is fun, I was just talking about it with Andrew [Wenger], he already scored two, so he should score again and maybe become the best scorer of this competition. He came to me and said we are now tied, so it’s good competition between us, too. We have continuity and are now three games away from the final, it would be great to get the trophy this year.”
The Union will now focus energies on New England in a return to MLS action this Saturday. The Union will look to climb out of the dregs of the Eastern Conference against one of the East’s best teams at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro (7:30 p.m., Comcast SportsNet).
BOX SCORE
Philadelphia Union 2, New York Cosmos 1
Tuesday, June 24; 7:00 p.m. ET
PPL Park
Chester, Pa.
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
PHI: 21’ Carroll (caution)
PHI: 29’ Cruz (caution)
PHI: 67’ Fabinho (caution)
NYC: 111’ Noselli (caution)
NYC: 113’ Maurer (caution)
NYC: 118’ Ayoze (ejection)
PHI: 118’ Lahoud (ejection)
NYC: 119’ Ockford (ejection)
SCORING SUMMARY
NYC: Alessandro Noselli 56’
PHI: Le Toux (Wenger) 57’
PHI: Le Toux (penalty) 114’
UNION STARTING 11
Blake, Fabinho, Williams, Edu, Gaddis, Carroll, Okugo, Maidana (Lahoud 116’), Cruz (Fernandes 69’), Le Toux, Wenger (Hoppenot 81’),.
COSMOS STARTING 11
Maurer, Perez, Roversio (Ockford 102’), Mendes, Freeman, Chirishian (Johnson 60’), Nane (Murphy 38’), Szetela, Guenzatti, Noselli, Stokkelien.
