Philadelphia Union play host to FC Dallas in one of the marquee matchups of the season when the clubs face off Saturday evening at PPL Park. Union currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, one point out of first, after a 1-1 home draw with Houston last weekend. FC Dallas are also in second place, in the Western Conference, after going down to a 3-1 defeat at overall leaders LA Galaxy last weekend.
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REFEREE: Geoff Gamble. SAR (bench): Daniel Belleau; JAR (opposite): Eric Proctor; 4th: Drew Fischer
MLS Career: 6 games; FC/gm: 21.5; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 1; pens: 4
INJURY REPORT: PHILADELPHIA UNION – QUESTIONABLE: MF Kyle Nakazawa (illness); FW Levi Houapeu (L ankle strain); PROBABLE: DF Sheanon Williams (lower leg contusion) …
FC DALLAS – OUT: DF Edson Edward (R knee ACL tear); MF David Ferreira (R ankle); FW Maykel Galindo (R hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: MF Andrew Jacobson (L knee); DF Jackson (R ankle); DF Ugo Ihemelu (concussion)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: DAL: Fabian Castillo (Colombia U-20)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: PHI: Brian Carroll, Carlos Valdes, Sheanon Williams … DAL: Daniel Hernandez, Andrew Jacobson
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: PHI: Danny Califf, Danny Mwanga … DAL: Marvin Chavez, Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Zach Loyd, Brek Shea
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (3 meetings): Union 0 wins, 2 goals … FC Dallas 2 wins, 6 goals … Ties 1
AT PHILADELPHIA (1 meeting): Union 0 wins, 1 goal … FC Dallas 0 wins, 1 goal … Ties 1
• Brek Shea and Fabian Castillo scored as FC Dallas claimed a 2-0 victory when the clubs first met this season, May 14 at Pizza Hut Park.
• After the teams played to a draw in their first-ever meeting last year in Philadelphia, FC Dallas came away 3-1 winners in the second, Aug. 8 at Pizza Hut Park.
• Coaches record: Schellas Hyndman v PHI: P3 W2 L0 D1 … Peter Nowak vs. DAL: P10 W3 L4 D3
LAST MEETING (MLS):
5/14: DAL 2, PHI 0 (Shea 29; Castillo 43)
• FC Dallas opened the scoring in the 29th minute. After skipping past Union defender Jordan Harvey, Fabian Castillo sent a rolling cross to a waiting Brek Shea, who tapped in from almost on the goal line.
• The lead was doubled two minutes before the break. Jackson darted down the right flank and floated in a cross to Castillo between defenders, and he flicked his header past Mondragón.
• FC DALLAS (4-1-3-2): Kevin Hartman - Jackson Goncalves, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Zach Loyd - Daniel Hernandez - Eric Alexander (Bruno Guarda 92+), Andrew Jacobson (Bobby Warshaw 83), Brek Shea - Fabian Castillo (Ruben Luna 67), Marvin Chavez.
• PHILADELPHIA UNION (4-4-2): Faryd Mondragon - Sheanon Williams, Carlos Valdes, Danny Califf, Jordan Harvey - Amobi Okugo, Brian Carroll (Jack McInerney 46), Roger Torres (Keon Daniel 73), Justin Mapp (Carlos Ruiz 46) - Sebastien Le Toux, Danny Mwanga.
PHILADELPHIA UNION
Philadelphia Union played to a second consecutive draw, this time a 1-1 result with Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening at PPL Park. Union have 33 points from 22 matches on the year, in second place in the Eastern Conference.
LAST MATCH
• Union took the lead in the 19th minute. Jack McInerney finished off a beautiful give-and-go with Sébastien Le Toux, flicking the ball past Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall with his right foot from inside the area for the opener.
• Le Toux hit the post when in on goal alone in the 84th minute, a miss that would haunt the home side seconds later, when Geoff Cameron ripped a long-range drive that sailed past Philadelphia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon for the leveler.
• Union manager Peter Nowak made two changes to the team that came away from Toyota Park with a 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire. Sheanon Williams returned from suspension in place of Michael Farfan, and Jack McInerney started in place of Stefani Miglioranzi.
• PHILADELPHIA UNION (4-1-3-2): Faryd Mondragon - Sheanon Williams, Carlos Valdes, Danny Califf, Gabriel Farfan - Brian Carroll - Justin Mapp (Michael Farfan 46), Roger Torres (Danny Mwanga 46), Veljko Paunovic - Jack McInerney (Stefani Miglioranzi 66), Sebastien Le Toux,
TEAM NEWS
• The day after turning 19 years of age, Jack McInerney scored his first goal of 2011. He scored three goals in league play last year, his rookie season in MLS.
• “For him to get a start and for him, with his first chance, to score a goal is fantastic,” Union coach John Hackworth said. “Maybe this is yet another young guy who can come on and do that for us.” Said McInerney: “It felt good to finally get it over with. Now I can hopefully score a couple of more goals this season.”
• With Peter Nowak still recovering from minor back surgery, Hackworth performed the bench duties for a second consecutive match.
• Although he has not scored this season – after leading Union with 14 goals a year ago – Sebastien Le Toux has eight assists on the season, tied for third in MLS, after setting up McInerney’s goal. David Beckham (LA) and Brad Davis (HOU) are tied for the league lead with 10 assists.
• “We’d love to see him score and I’m sure he’d love to score more than anybody,” Justin Mapp said. “He just has to keep shooting and eventually he’s gonna get one. But he does so much more for this team.”
• With the transfer of Carlos Ruiz to Veracruz in Mexico completed, McInerney was partnered in attack by Veljko Paunovic. But Paunovic spent a lot of time dropping back into central midfield with Le Toux moving up top.
• “I think we have a good team and we understand each other well,” said Paunovic. “When we switch, we know what’s best for the team. If I have to move to the left or the right, Seba sees that, or Justin, or whoever. You need to know how to play in every place. Sometimes you act as a defender or a midfield player even if you’re not. Like Carlos Valdes, many times he’s coming forward, along with Danny Califf. That’s the point. You have to be complete players.”
• Union made two changes at halftime, with Michael Farfan and Danny Mwanga coming on, Mwanga playing more as an out-and-out striker with Paunovic remaining deeper in midfield. Then Stefani Miglioranzi came on to bolster the central midfield defensively.
• “[We were] just trying to lock it down a little bit, we felt like we were a little open,” Hackworth said. “We knew they were going to a 3-5-2 and possibly were going to push up another forward. Bringing Stefani on was just us trying to make sure we had numbers in those spots. We had Pauno and Seba and Mwanga on the field, so it wasn’t like we didn’t have attackers out there as well.”
• The Union announced Friday that they have signed US international Freddy Adu to a contract, and head coach Peter Nowak said that Adu is available for gameday selection against Dallas. Adu reunites with Nowak after the two were together as player and coach with D.C. United, where Adu made a memorable teenage debut in 2004 and the club went on to win the MLS Cup that season.
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas saw their unbeaten run ended at four games, going down to a 3-1 defeat to the LA Galaxy on Saturday evening at The Home Depot Center. FCD has 42 points from 23 games on the season, in second place in the Western Conference.
LAST MATCH
• The visitors raced out to a ninth-minute lead after a splendid quick sequence. Zach Loyd found Maicon Santos near the edge of the Galaxy penalty area, and he then laid the ball off to Marvin Chávez, who ripped a shot off the crossbar and over the line.
• The Galaxy notched the equalizer in the 32nd minute. Beckham swung a 40-yard free kick toward the right post, and after FCD goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and defender George John collided and fell, the ball bounced in the box and Omar Gonzalez easily headed home from close range.
• The Galaxy doubled the lead in the 62nd minute on another Beckham free kick. This time, Gregg Berhalter headed it away from goal, but Juninho latched onto the rebound and hit a slow roller that bounced off the left post and rolled across the goal line.
• The hosts punctuated their victory with an 81st-minute goal, again off a set piece. Beckham swung a corner kick in on goal and Magee smashed the ball into the back of the net.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made two changes to the team that took a 1-0 decision against Chivas USA at Pizza Hut Park. Daniel Hernandez returned to the team for Bobby Warshaw, and Maicon Santos started in place of Ruben Luna.
• FC DALLAS (4-1-4-1): Kevin Hartman - Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu (Bobby Warshaw 92+), Jair Benitez - Daniel Hernandez – Marvin Chavez, Bruno Guarda (Daniel Cruz 72), Ricardo Villar, Brek Shea - Maicon Santos (Eric Alexander 79).
TEAM NEWS
• Marvin Chavez continued his hot streak, having scored all four goals FC Dallas have tallied over the last three games after opening the scoring in the 3-1 loss at the LA Galaxy.
• “I am happy about the goal but I would have been happier if we would have gotten the three points but that’s how the game is,” Chavez said. “We have to focus on the next game and not let this game worry us and focus on winning the next game.”
• Making his FCD debut after being acquired from Toronto FC, Maicon Santos partnered Chavez up top and recorded his first assist on his goal.
• “I thought Maicon played very well considering that he’s never trained with us. He’s only had one day of pregame training. He held the ball and he got the ball to Chávez, who scored a brilliant goal,” FCD coach Schellas Hyndman said. “He was a handful for [Gregg] Berhalter and [Omar] Gonzalez. When we were playing balls on the ground, he was very dangerous.”
• It was the most goals FC Dallas had allowed since a season-high four goals on June 12, in a 4-1 home loss to Sporting Kansas City. FCD had allowed just four goals total in their previous seven games.
• “Goofy first goal. Very seldom do you see Kevin [Hartman] make those types of mistakes. I think George [John] had the ball anyway with a header but Kevin called him off the ball and then missed the ball himself and gave them a soft goal – one that we can definitely improve on,” Hyndman said.
• All three goals scored by the Galaxy came from set pieces. FC Dallas had allowed just five goals, plus one penalty, from standard situations before the LA game.
• “The score’s 3-1 and I think it’s a closer game than that. I really do think that … [it was] tired legs, and when you get tired, the thing that normally goes is your brain and your concentration. I think that’s where it came down to,” Hyndman said. Added Chavez: “We lost our concentration and that was fatal for us. They started to attack us and they took advantage of their set pieces and that hurt us so we have to go back and work on that.”
• Jackson Goncalves injured his right ankle against Alianza FC on Wednesday and did not travel to Los Angeles.
