Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Sapong snaps string in tricky fashion
CHESTER >> There haven’t been many bright spots surrounding the Philadelphia Union in the first eight games of 2017.
Yet through the winless haze shrouding the season’s first two months, CJ Sapong has shone brightly.
Saturday, as a winless streak stretched to the unimaginable proportions of 16 games and 252 days, the factor that tipped it toward attrition was the irrepressible brightness of Sapong’s play.
Sapong notched an 11-minute second-half hat trick, the first of his MLS career and third in Union history, as the club snapped its multi-year skid with a 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.
“You can’t put it into words,” Sapong said. “It’s been a long, hard-working road for us to get this win and there’s something I felt from my teammates on the field tonight that is really a testament to how much we’ve gone through and how we came together. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Sapong capitalized on an errant pass from Aaron Long in the 74th minute, which a sliding Long then deflected up and over an outstretched Luis Robles. A takeaway by Alejandro Bedoya in the 81st sprung Fabian Herbers down the right wing for a back-post cross that Chris Pontius nodded back into the path of Sapong to tap home.
Then Sapong finished the
hat trick from the spot after a Damien Perrinelle handball in the box, calmly slotting home the clincher in the 85th.
Sapong is up to seven goals this season, equaling his 2016 output and two shy of his career high (nine, in 2015 and 2012). It’s his first hat trick in 177 MLS games, and he joins Sebastien Le Toux in 2010 and Alberg last year in the Union annals. He’s level with Houston’s Cubo Torres for the most goals in MLS.
“CJ is obviously very hot right now, he’s a guy we believe can score goals, he’s proven that in this league,” manager Jim Curtin said. “It is a team effort. The service he got tonight was excellent. He did great to finish it.”
Sapong has been a constant on a Union side devoid of reliability. Saturday, though, he experienced the rare joy of melding personal achievement with team accomplishment.
“For me to click as well as me clicking with my teammates and have a performance like that, it’s just so much work we’ve put in,” he said. “I don’t think people really know how much work we put in. We put a lot of hours into the game every day and when it’s not going right it’s easy to meticulously look at things. Always finding areas you’re not doing well. Today to cover everything we covered in the last week on video and execute perfectly pretty much, it’s a good feeling and it’s more motivation because we know we’re capable of that.”
The Union (1-4-4, 7 points) handled matters at the other end of the park, too. Andre Blake made four saves against a Red Bulls side playing its third game in eight days, with the legs to show. Blake’s best denial came in the 80th minute against a low Bradley Wright-Phillips shot that Blake stuffed. Blake also pawed away a point-blank effort in the first half from a sliding Wright-Phillips.
With Richie Marquez (illness) missing his first game since the 2016 opener, Oguchi Onyewu partnered Jack
Elliott, who is part of backto-back shutouts for a Union team Union on a three-game unbeaten mini-streak (0-1-2).
“You saw guys got bigger, and it was really good to get the three goals, and I’m really proud of that,” Curtin said. “But I’m more proud of keeping the zero. Red Bulls is going to create chances, but to have a big save or a big tackle in the box, the guys put it on the line today. So that’s big.”
Sapong deservingly takes the headlines, but he also engenders the obvious question of staying power. He has a reputation as an early-season scorer, but rarely has his form withstood the summer heat.
Something about the way he’s finished goals this season — particularly the driving run at the heart of defense on the first tally — indicates that this is a new year.
“I only think about it when y’all bring it up,” Sapong said, genially. “When I look at my stats and see that in the regular season I haven’t gotten to double digits, it definitely gives me a little incentive, but the way I’m looking at it, there’s no way I can’t score 10 goals. I just have to keep, every day, going out on the field and helping my team. If I emulate the way I approach the game today and my teammates do the same thing, it’s going to come for all of us. I’m excited about it.”
“CJ is a good striker in MLS,” Curtin said. “He’ll be fine. It’s a new year and he will continue to score goals. He’s a good goal-scorer. This is 2017.”
Whether or not Sapong extrapolates his franchise-leading form over the long season remains to be seen. But what is certain is that Saturday, he helped reliving a monstrous dose of pressure on his team with a performance they believe finally reflects the work they’ve put forth.
“This is a good first step,” Curtin said. “It’s very powerful to have people who believe in you. People have believed in our team and the players and myself, and that’s what’s kept us strong through a tough time. We do this together each and every day. We work very hard. It has been a long time since we’ve gotten a W, but the guys worked their tails off tonight and deserved all three points.”