Union draw Revolution 1-1 in frustrating tie

Le Toux put us up early with a brilliant goal but the Union couldn’t finish the job. We can’t sit on one goal leads and get complacent late in the game. Generally, control of the match went back and forth between Philadelphia and New England. The Revolution brought the game even with a long free kick that took a circus bounce up and over Seitz into the back of the net. The Union had several great opportunities to score in the final 10 minutes but were unable to finish. At the end of the game Le Toux had high percentage chance to score just outside the six yard line when Shalrie Joseph drug him to the ground with both hands from behind. No whistle. No penalty. Instead of earning 3 points we have to settle for 1.

This storyline is so old that its comfortable and worn in.  We have a great opportunity to win and blow it.  The game against Chivas and the San Jose implosion are our most recent examples.  The truth is we have to finish better and not sit on a one goal lead.   This is soccer and stuff just happens. A game can change in an instant.  Today a long range free kick took a seemingly unpredictable bounce up and into the goal.  We didn't get a penalty shot we deserved at the end.  All of this would be moot had the Union finished one of their many second half opportunities.

Today’s game brought two new faces to league play: Justin Mapp and Eduardo Coudet. I think Coudet is fantastic. Every time he gets the ball I have a lot of confidence in what he is about to do next. Great passes and long switches across the field. We needed a guy like that. Mapp came in the 56 minute and played okay. He had good movement with the ball but clearly he need some more time with the team. The moment I can’t stop thinking about is Mapp getting the ball near the top of box with space to shoot. He hesitated and lost a great opportunity. Honestly it looked like he wasn’t expecting the ball. That kind of fundamental thing worries me. Next time be ready and take a rip: Mapp could have been the hero.

Now for some post game quotage.

Nowak:

Nowak on Coudet:

Nowak on Mapp:

“That’s why we made a trade,” Nowak said about the 2006 MLS Best XI midfielder. “I think Justin has great potential. We looked at maybe giving him a start because Danny Mwanga was not 100 percent healthy today. We tried to manage that because we have a big stretch coming up with a lot of games. We gave Justin a run for 35 minutes, and we believe that going forward he’s going to help us. For us as a coaching staff, we have choices and options, and we’ll look at the lineup going forward. We have four games in two weeks, so that will be a help to us.”

Attendance: 18,137