CHESTER, Pa. --
Sébastien Le Toux's brace and
Michael Farfan's one-goal, one-assist evening lifted the
Philadelphia Union to a critical 3-2 victory over visiting
D.C. United in a nationally televised showdown Thursday night at
PPL Park.
The win vaults
Philadelphia (10-7-13, 43 points) from fourth place into second place in the crowded
Eastern Conference, just one
point behind conference leader
Sporting Kansas City.
Meanwhile, D.C. United (9-9-11, 38 points), despite goals from
Dwayne De Rosario and
Andy Najar, remain in sixth place in the
East and, for now, on the outside looking in for a postseason berth.
Farfan broke the 2-2 deadlock in the 57th minute when he took a
nifty first touch to get around sliding
D.C. defender
Brandon McDonald, dribbled into space and, when no one closed in on him, unleashed a rocket from just outside the box that found the upper corner of the net.
It was the second goal of the season for the
Union rookie, who has emerged as a major threat in the midfield in recent weeks.
Earlier, Le Toux started off the high-scoring affair with a fourth-minute goal, finishing off a long ball from teammate
Carlos Valdés that the D.C. United defense appeared to misjudge.
Just 10 minutes later, the Union's star
Frenchman scored his second goal of the match when he took a nice first touch on a terrific, arching, cross-field pass from Farfan and beat D.C. goalie
Bill Hamid.
The red-hot Le Toux now has nine goals in his last eight games after scoring just once through the team's first 22 contests. Farfan has assisted on a Le Toux goal in each of
Philly's past two games.
D.C. United, though, quickly countered with their top goal-scorer, as
De Rosario netted his league-leading 14th goal of the season, heading a corner kick from
Najar past Union rookie 'keeper
Zac MacMath.
Najar then got into the scoring with a fantastic individual effort. On a counter-attack in the 30th minute, the dynamic Honduran international ran the entire length of the field, capped by a dribbling clinic he put on to beat Farfan and then a strong shot that got by MacMath to the near post.
Both teams had other opportunities to score in the first half -- the Union's
Veljko Paunovic had a couple of shots on target and
United's
Ethan White ripped a shot that went just wide -- but went into halftime tied at 2-2.
D.C. United didn't have too many opportunities to come back once Philly took the 3-2 lead, in part because they subbed out De
Rosario and standouts
Charlie Davies (stomach flu) and
Chris Pontius (broken leg) were already out of commission.
The Union were also without a key attacking player in striker
Danny Mwanga (right hip flexor strain) but got an added boost from
Freddy Adu, who came on a second-half sub despite a bum ankle.
It was the fist time Adu has ever played against D.C. United, who signed him as a 14-year-old in 2004.
Both teams now have very short turnarounds with the Union heading out to the
West Coast to play
Chivas USA on Sunday and D.C. United taking on
Columbus on the road the same day.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
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