Fontana, Przybylko help Union knock off Inter Miami »
CHESTER » The Eagles are winless after three weeks and tied the lowly Cincinnati Bengals Sunday.
The Phillies finished their coronavirus-shortened season with losses in seven of their final eight games and failed to qualify for a postseason that rewarded under-performing teams such as themselves.
October is right around the corner and the pro sports scene in Philadelphia is a miserable hellscape ... but at least there’s the Union.
Chester’s soccer club picked up another three points Sunday night at Subaru Park, earning a
3-0 victory against Inter Miami. They did so in a steady, driving rain and without captain Alejandro Bedoya, who was suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
Goalie Andre Blake was sensational en route to his sixth shutout of the season. The Union improved to 8-4-2, just two points behind first-place Columbus in the Eastern Conference.
Blake was designated team captain in place of Bedoya.
“Tonight, to keep it at
1-0 at the time, he made a big save,” Union coach Jim Curtin said. “We gave him the captain’s armband for a reason. The most important thing when you do wear the band is to communicate. Great leadership from Andre, he made some big saves and preserved the three for us tonight.”
Sunday’s performance was far more encouraging than last Wednesday’s 0-0 draw at Cincinnati.
“We talked about a response to the performance in Cincinnati, which was very good defensively but was lacking in the attacking part of the field, in our passing and in our build-up,” Curtin said. “The players, I thought, really stepped up. It’s a great example in sports, in our game, I said it to the guys before we went out on the field, 11 players that are cohesive and together and have belief and are fighting for each other can beat any group of individual talented players. Miami has a very good team and a lot of talent in their group. I thought the exercise tonight was one where the Philadelphia Union plays the way that the next man steps up, when we’re missing our captain Bedoya, and I thought we got a lot of big performances from our guys.”
One player who fit Curtin’s description was Anthony Fontana, who filled the Starting XI vacancy and delivered in a big way. The homegrown midfielder sparked the Union attack by firing the first shot on net in the opening minutes. Fontana unleashed a rocket past Miami goalie Luis Robles in the 25th minute to put Union on top, 1-0.
“I love the feeling. Even though there’s no crowd, you still feel that energy,” Fontana said. “It was my first start since my debut
points in MLS (in 2018), so there were some nerves before the game but, shoot, I’m happy. I feel like we responded really well. Alejandro obviously is a big part of our team and I know he trusts us to go out and get the job done. Personally, he was giving me a little bit of advice. When one player steps out, everybody else steps up.”
Fontana was thrilled to start at home and scoring a goal was a bonus. He didn’t see the pitch in the Union’s prior match last Wednesday.
“Obviously it’s always different when coming off the bench versus starting a game. When you start, you’re going to get a lot more time. So, I did my best hydrating, eating my bananas and doing all this stuff to prevent cramps,” he said. “Unfortunately, I cramped up, but I’m fine and there’s no injuries or anything like that. From now on, maybe I have to drink even more.”
“As you saw tonight, he’s a very lethal finisher,” Curtin said. “He did a great job of arranging his body, to turn and to move forward. The kid continues to produce for us and everybody is contributing in that locker room.”
Fontana was removed after cramping up in the 60th minute. However, the fresh legs proved beneficial for the Union.
Ilsinho came off the bench for Fontana and scored almost immediately when he slid in the box and converted a pass from Kacper Przybylko.
“Ilsinho is still the same incredible weapon and I’m really happy that he got the goal tonight,” Curtin said. “We’ve asked him to do a lot of different things for us this year: play as a second striker, play as a winger, play as a 10 like he did tonight. Every time he steps up and does a great job. It was a good team goal from Ilsinho who, talent-wise, is still a great player for us and he did a great job impacting the game.”
Brenden Aaronson tallied his fourth goal of the season in stoppage time, and was the second Homegrown player to find the back of the net on the night.
“It’s awesome,” Fontana said. “Every time us Homegrowns step onto the field, we always want to make an impact. As of late, we’ve just been killing it. It all comes down to all the work we’re putting in and we just have to keep it up, simple as that.”
The Union allowed Miami to hang around for a little while. Miami had
three corner kicks in the first 15 minutes of the second half, then Blake made an outstanding save on a shot from Ben Sweat in the 62nd. Jose Martinez went down with a shoulder on the play. He stayed on, but played in noticeable discomfort.
Gonzalo Higuain, a prized acquisition of Miami owner David Beckham, made his highly anticipated MLS debut. The Argentine striker blew a golden opportunity to cut into the Union’s 2-0 advantage in the 75th, overshooting a penalty kick that sailed over the crossbar. In the first half, when he wasn’t screaming for a foul call, Higuain nearly bicycle-kicked in a goal but the ball skimmed off the post. Overall, though, the Union’s defense rose to the occasion.
“I thought that, all things considered, our guys did a good job of limiting the amount of
touches that he had,” Curtin said. “With the top strikers, the No. 1 thing is try and deny service. You saw when Miami was able to put balls in the box just how dangerous he can be. On a different night, he could’ve got a couple goals as well. We respect that and we understand that.”
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NOTES » The Union improved to 7-0-2 this season when scoring a game’s first goal ...Olivier Mbaizo started for the injured Ray Gaddis at right back ... Left back Kai Wagner returned to the Starting XI for the first time since Aug. 29 and played 85 minutes. He had missed the previous four games, but appeared to re-injure himself late in regulation ... Sergio Santos was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Sept.
6 ... The nine minutes of stoppage time was the most played by the Union this season.