Halftime report: D.C. United 0, Philadelphia Union 1

The Philadelphia Union started strong, winning a couple of corners early. Fabinho picked up a yellow card in the fourth minute on a hard foul on Luciano Acosta, and Alejandro Bedoya picked up one in the eleventh on another hard foul on Lamar Neagle. The game was very disjointed in the early portion, with plenty of fouls and restarts required.

The Union constantly tried stretching D.C.’s defense vertically, and it worked to some degree. The Union were able to get some decent setups down in the D.C. area. D.C. on the other hand looked to play short passes in hopes of out-maneuvering the Union. The Union however remained tactically solid for the most part.

The Union had a great chance in the 25th minute when CJ Sapong was sprung on a great ball by Jack Elliott. He pushed it inside to Chris Pontius, who faked a shot and slotted it over to Ilsinho. Ilsinho was able to direct it on frame but Kofi Opare was there to snuff it out. The rebound came out to Fafa Picault, who chested the ball down and shot it, however Opare was there and the ball hit him and went out of danger.

United to their credit had a couple of shots on goal but nothing really troubling Andre Blake. Haris Medunjanin must have heard the criticism from all corners and really knuckled down on defense. Several times the Bosnian midfielder bailed the Union out of difficult situations.

In the 38th minute, Medunjanin’s offensive prowess was on display as he put the Union on the board with a long range golazo.

The Union had another decent chance in the 40th minute but Bill Hamid came up big to snuff out the chance. Try as they might, the Union were unable to add to their lead and ended the half up 1-0.

D.C. United: Bill Hamid; Taylor Kemp, Bobby Boswell, Kofi Opare, Steve Birnbaum; Jared Jeffrey; Lamar Neagle, Luciano Acosta, Ian Harkes, Lloyd Sam; Patrick Mullins

Philadelphia Union:  Andre Blake; Fabio Alves, Richie Marquez, Jack Elliott, Ray Gaddis; Haris Medunjanin, Alejandro Bedoya; Fafa Picault, Ilson Jr., Chris Pontius; CJ Sapong

Scoring: D.C. United – None; Philadelphia Union – Haris Medunjanin (38’)

Disciplinary: D.C. United – Lamar Neagle (Yellow – 19’); Philadelphia Union – Fabinho (Yellow – 4’), Alejandro Bedoya (Yellow – 9’)