Philadelphia Union sealed their Cup playoff spot after drawing 2-2 away against DC United at Audi Field. The visitors were trailing 2-1 when a long-range rocket from defender Mark McKenzie (his first ever goal for Union) gave them an 87th minute equaliser. Given the terrible season DC have had, the draw probably felt like a loss for Philly, but they have now booked a spot for themselves in the playoffs for the third season in succession.
This game was DC’s first at home without regular manager Ben Olsen, who was sacked last week, and they were aiming to end a five match losing streak across all competitions and a seven game regular season winless run against Philadelphia.
The game produced no goals in the first half, but the best chance did go to the home side. Yamil Asad’s 42nd minute free kick found Ola Kamara in space in the box, but Philly keeper Andre Blaker did brilliantly to deny the Norwegian from close range. DC had a couple of other decent half chances, one to Edison Flores in the 15th minute, and another to Kamara on 31 minutes, but neither were converted and the two sides were tied 0-0 going into the break.
A big mix up in the DC back four effectively saw them gift Philly the opener in the 49th minute. Donovan Pines was guilty of attempting to pass the ball around in his box instead of clearing it, and the visitors pounced, with Anthony Fontana sliding home from point blank range. It was also Fofana’s 21st birthday- a memorable goal for the young midfielder.
DC however fought back, with two goals in the space of four odd second half minutes. First, Pines redeemed himself by nodding in an Asad corner in the 71st minute later and four minutes later, the Argentine turned goal scorer as he scored from the penalty spot after Alejandro Bedoya had been penalised for handball.
DC, who inked a kit deal with Caesars earlier in the year, were huge outsiders for this clash according to the odds at their own sportsbook partner. Before the game, Philadelphia were being quoted at -120, with DC at +310, but the home side were suddenly on course for a stunning upset win following Asad’s spot kick.
Their lead however lasted only twelve minutes before McKenzie’s stunner drew the visitors level, and both teams had to settle for a point each. The draw halted DC’s five game losing run, but they’ve now gone nine games without a win- a stat they will be keen to set right when they lock horns with fellow Eastern Conference strugglers Cincinnati in their next game.
The xG stats for this fixture were interesting- DC finished with 1.98, although 0.75 came from Asad’s penalty. This was a fairly even game, one which left both sides feeling they could’ve walked away with all three points instead of the solitary one they had to make do with. McKenzie’s stunning equaliser had a xG of 0.03. Fontana’s opener had a xG of 0.58, while Pines’ 71st minute header had one of 0.37
xG DC 1.98-1.08 Union
With conference leaders TFC also drawing in their game against NYRB and third placed Columbus going down in theirs, the two dropped points don’t affect Philly too much- they remain within touching distance of Toronto and have a four point advantage over the Crew.