CHESTER, Pa. – Very rarely this season have the Philadelphia Union put together an effort so complete and convincing as they did against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday at PPL Park.
Solid up and down the pitch, the Union didn’t give the visitors much of anything in either half. Stopping their attacks and creating their own chances at numerous points, the Union played one of their best matches of the season against a Kansas City team that just last week topped the LA Galaxy 2-0 on the road.
WATCH: FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
But unfortunately for the Union, their efforts were only good enough for a 1-1 draw, a result that no one in the Philadelphia organization felt they deserved.
[inline_node:317623]Undone by a cheeky Davy Arnaud free kick that fooled Union keeper Chris Seitz – who played it as a cross rather than a shot – Philadelphia let another win go astray.
For team manager Peter Nowak, it was a chance wasted at earning three vital points.
“I think we all feel that we were supposed to win this game, there is no question about it,” Nowak said. “We cannot feel sorry for ourselves.”
Dominant for much of the match, particularly in the first half, Nowak’s group again wasn’t able to capitalize on plenty of solid chances.
“That’s the reality,” Nowak said. “We put both feet on the ground and make it competitive. We can juggle the system and speculate, but it’s not going to work. We’ve got to make the necessary plays and score the goals, and obviously prevent goals when they are preventable.”
The result may come as a letdown to the Union, but Nowak was able to take positives from the match and he thinks his side has come a long way since the beginning of the season.
“I think the way we play makes everyone feel good about what we’ve built in the last eight months,” Nowak said. “Of course we wished we had more points … as we all believe we deserve it.
"Moral victories aren’t important in the standings. We’ve played a good season so far and we still have eight games left, and I don’t expect something will change with our mentality.”
With matches remaining against Eastern Conference foes Chicago, Columbus and New York, to go along with a tough tilt against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Philadelphia will have to learn from matches like Saturday’s if they want to end the season strongly.
“Sometimes, in games like today, that experience is very valuable,” Nowak said. “From week to week, we need to continue to develop as a group and grow as a group.”
