The Cough: Le Toux’s Goal Only Good For A Draw As Union Hack Up A Weak Goal To The KC Wizards

Before you ask, the headline makes absolute sense.  I was lacking on a decent headline at first and decided to see what Le Toux's name translated to in French.  When I saw it was "The Cough" I though, eh what the heck.  The team hacked up the game and that much else can be said about it in that respect.  

More on the game after the jump…

Le Toux was not enough.

How many times this season has a post-match recap been able to start off with those five words? It's a never ending meme, it seems, for the Union. No matter if the Union find themselves ahead of an opposing team on the back of a Le Toux goal, a different portion of the team some how figures out a way to remove the hope of a victory or even a point.

Typically the Union find themselves hogtied by a poor defensive effort. For once the defense was not the worst that the Union had to offer. While Danny Califf was once again poor, another meme of the Union, his play did not dictate the the draw. Rather, it was Chris Seitz's mistake that led to more dropped points.

After a mixed start to the season it began to look as though Seitz would pull out of is funk and become the first choice goal keeper that coach Piotr Nowak wants him to be. No matter how much faith Nowak has in Seitz, it's clear that the Union have the same problem as Arsenal of the English Premier League. A successful coach (Wenger vs Nowak) relies way too heavily on an goalie with potential but consistently underachieves (Almunia vs Seitz).  To a fan or supporter or either team, the reliance on such a goalkeeper is infuriating.  It's time to try Knighton, especially after his showing versus Chivas de Guadalajara.

Once again Sebastian Le Toux found himself in front of the goal and once again Le Toux let the ball find a home in the back of the opposing net. Danny Mwanga’s perfect pass from the left side of the 18 was almost magnetically directed to Le Toux’s foot. The Union were ahead in the first half and the Wizards down, putting the Union in a great position to take an important three points in the hunt to get into the playoff hunt. According to Ben Feldman of The Brotherly Game, the Union were “2-0-1 when leading at halftime, Kansas City [was] 0-4-1 when trailing at the half.”

But the storyline of the season continued, as the Union dropped points that it should not have dropped. A full three points were to be had and the Union still managed to not get all of them. The Wizards tied the game on a Davy Arnaud goal in the 70th minute. As previously mentioned, an error by Seitz – an indecision really – led to the Union handing the game back into a draw.

Positives can be taken from the play of Justin Mapp, who once again provided an offensive boost in the form of unlocking the opposing defense.  Mwanga and Le Toux's chemistry continues to build and produced the Union's only goal.  It is now clear that Jack McInerney should be starting, given his recent form and need for time to influence the game.  Late substituions just aren't going to cut it for him anymore.

Still, there are really no excuses for wasting another goal by Le Toux, especially when the points lost in the draw were to the team ahead of Union in the Eastern Conference standings. At this point in the season the Union should be winning games like these, not failing to take all the possible points.