Sapong’s goal can’t overcome poor start, winless streak continues
WASHINGTON >> With one side searching for its first win and another for its first goal of the no-longer-young MLS season, the Philadelphia Union hoped not to be on the wrong side of a breakout performance Saturday night.
Instead, they sunk to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings like the decaying RFK Stadium around them.
First-half goals by Jose Guillermo Ortiz and Luciano Acosta did the trick with D.C. United claiming a 2-1 win.
The visiting Union (0-22, 2 points) received a spark in the second half with the introduction of CJ Sapong, who netted his third goal of the season. But by and large, they didn’t create enough chances to respond to D.C.’s uncharacteristic first-half outburst.
“We had two self-inflicted errors that were mistakes that we didn’t really recover from, and then we chased things the rest of the half,” manager Jim Curtin said. “Again those things happen. This league is too strong and there’s too much talent in this league to spot teams two goals.”
Despite the pressure generated in the second half, the Union deserved to see their winless streak grow to 11 MLS matches (0-7-4). Only the Union and Montreal remain winless in the East. The Union haven’t won since Aug. 27, 2016.
Plenty of breaks didn’t go the Union’s way, which Curtin duly emphasized. D.C. (1-2-1, 4
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But bad luck was hardly the only reason why the Union were on the wrong side of the ledger.
“We have to be better,” Oguchi Onyewu said. “We gifted them two goals by silly mistakes, and I think we need to start cutting out these errors because that’s costing us points.”
D.C.’s first goal was the comedy of errors befitting a team breaking its duck in the fourth game of the season. Poor distribution from Andre Blake put Fabinho under pressure on a header near the touchline, which allowed Lloyd Sam space on the wing. He slid the ball to Ortiz, who turned and ricocheted a shot off the trailing leg of a slowto-react Onyewu, over Blake, off the underside of the crossbar and in.
The tally marked DC’s first goal of the season in its 288th minute. The next breakthrough required just a nine-minute wait.
Acosta stripped Haris Medunjanin, again on the left wing, and fed Ortiz, whose attempted through ball struck Richie Marquez’s outstretched arm on the edge of the penalty area, the assistant referee helping Salazar determine the infraction came in the box. Acosta squeezed his shot past Blake, who guessed correctly but couldn’t get down to deny a superb spot kick.
Marquez exited at halftime for Jack Elliott’s MLS debut, the veteran defender evaluated for a concussion after a collision in the box in the 15th minute when he appeared to be kicked in the head by Blake. Curtin said Marquez passed an initial on-field screening but later experienced blurred and double vision.
The second sub — Sapong for an ineffective Jay Simpson in the 59th — altered the complexion of the game.
“CJ for sure gave them some problems,” Curtin said. “He came into the game like a good forward does and he left an impact right away. Obviously got the tap-in goal which was good, and from there, was a handful for them: Created chances, created shots, headed some balls in on goal.”
A 53.8 percent share of the possession finally translated into a goal in the 71st, Sapong’s third in as many contests, tidying up a rebound of an Alejandro Bedoya shot.
“I saw Ale create a little space for himself to get a shot off,” Sapong said. “I just wanted to get close to the goalie. Fortunately he wasn’t able to keep a hold of it and I just put it in the goal.”
Hamid stood tall on a Sapong shot in the 79th when the striker turned a trio of defenders inside-out, but Hamid stretched to deny the short-side attempt, one of five saves.
“There was a lot going on in there,” Sapong said. “I just figured just get it on goal. I couldn’t even see (Hamid), and he came out of nowhere and made a great stop. That’s how the game goes.”
The Union’s first four contests all seem to have gone that way, not just without a win but sans the satisfaction of a performance translating into what Curtin deems commensurate points. That ratchets up the pressure on the three-game homestand that kicks off next weekend and the week of questioning that will ensue.
“There’s going to be some negativity around the group, but we know that and at the same time, we believe in what we’re doing, I believe in the work we’re doing,” Curtin said. “I know this group, the performances aren’t indicative of the point total we’re on now. We have to continue to work hard in training, fix some things and results will start going our way.” NOTES >> Goalkeeper Jake McGuire made the bench for the first time as the backup, with John McCarthy out with a concussion. … Ilsinho, who looked moderately dangerous in his first start of the season, saw a yellow card in the 57th for diving in the box.