Alvaro Fernandez's 91st minute goal salvages a point at Philadelphia

By Money Mike

When it looked as though the Philadelphia Union were gonna pull off another 1-0 victory, Alvaro Fernandez's equalizing goal a minute into stoppage time saved a point for the Seattle Sounders as the match ended all square at 1-1. With the draw, Seattle now has 6 points (1-2-3) and Philadelphia remains on top of the Eastern Conference table with 10 points (3-1-1). The Sounders now head to Colorado to face the defending MLS Cup Champion Rapids on Friday, then it's back home for a match Toronto before hitting the road again for matches at D.C. United and the Columbus Crew then after that the next three matches are at home, starting with the Portland Timbers.

The weather over there was really crappy, the conditions were poor, the ball movement was poor, I mean, the Sounders just looked miserable out there.

The man officiating this match by the way was Terry Vaughn, and you can tell that he was the referee, after a foul that led to a Philadelphia goal. Kyle Nakazawa's touch was a little too heavy and instead of going for goal, he just leans into Osvaldo Alonso and his arms were up in the air before Alonso even made contact with him, so it should've been a dive, instead Terry Vaughn signaled free kick in a dangerous position and showed a yellow card to Ozzie Alonso. That led to this.........

Carlos Ruiz with a free kick from 25-yards out, a bender over the wall toward the far post, Kasey Keller got a touch, but he couldn't keep the ball from sneaking inside the far past for the goal to put the Union up 1-0. It was Ruiz's 2nd goal of the season.

In the 51st minute, a mistimed header by Jeff Parke nearly led to a second goal, Ruiz with a good touch out of the air sent Sebastien Le Toux away but he didn't strike it hard enough and it was easily saved by Keller. A couple minutes later, Ruiz set up young Amobi Okugo for an open look from outside the area but again, no trouble for Kasey Keller.

In the 66th minute, Sigi Schmid went to his bench and brought on Nate Jaqua and Fredy Montero to boost the attack late on for Seattle. It was Montero's first game back since recovering from wrist surgery a couple weeks ago.

In minute 78', Alvaro Fernandez nearly made an immediate impact. Fredy Montero drove the ball across, hoping for a deflection of some kind, goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon got a hand to it, and the ball fell directly to Fernandez who struck it hard. It was goal bound, but Danny Califf got in the way of that shot and seemed to have saved a win for the Union. But Fernandez wasn't going to be denied a second chance.....

In the first minute of stoppage time, a corner by Mauro Rosales found Nate Jaqua who nodded it to Fredy Montero at the far post, after exchanging passes with Steve Zakuani, Montero chiped the ball to the middle of the area. There were three Sounder players unmarked and in the end, it was Alvaro Fernandez with the header, off the post and into the back of the goal to tie the match up at 1-1 and that's how it ended.

Scoring summary:

Philadelphia Union - Carlos Ruiz (unassisted) 32'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (Fredy Montero) 91'+

Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless tackle) 30'

Philadelphia Union - Stefani Miglioranzi (caution; Reckless tackle) 55'

Philadelphia Union - Amobi Okugo (caution; Reckless tackle) 65'

Philadelphia Union - Carlos Valdes (caution; Reckless tackle) 88'

Starting lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Jeff Parke, Leonardo Gonzalez (Fredy Montero 66'); Erik Friberg (Alvaro Fernandez 77'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Mauro Rosales; O'Brian White (Nate Jaqua 66'), Steve Zakuani

Philadelphia Union - Faryd Mondragon; Sheanon Williams, Danny Califf, Carlos Valdes, Jordan Harvey; Keon Daniel, Stefani Miglioranzi (Danny Mwanga 59'), Amobi Okugo, Kyle Nakazawa; Sebastien Le Toux, Carlos Ruiz (Justin Mapp 80')

Seattle Sounders FC vs Philadelphia Union preview

By Money Mike

The Seattle Sounders hit the road to PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Union. Last season, following USA's World Cup exit, the Union opened up their new stadium against the Sounders. The Sounders got on the board first in that one after a late first half goal by Pat Noonan, but defensively they were awful, a clip inside the box resulted in a penalty kick which was converted by Sebastien Le Toux. Kasey Keller was left helpless as the backline just stood around almost all game and late on in that match, the Union made them pay with goals by Fred and Danny Mwanga. The Sounders, coming off a win against Chicago, are seeking revenge against the Union who are right now leading the east with 9 points. So far all of their matches ended in 1-0 decisions with three of them going their way. But the Sounders look to pick up where they left off last week and come away with another big victory.

Injury report:

Seattle Sounders FC - Well there's only one injury to report this week for the men in Rave Green. Fredy Montero, who missed the last two matches while recovering from wrist surgery, has been cleared by the doctors and is with the team for the trip to Philly.

Philadelphia Union - Gabriel Farfan has a dislocated right toe and is not going to feature in this match. Brian Carroll has a strained right hamstring and it's unlikely he'll play.

Key matchups:

Steve Zakuani vs Sheanon Williams - I like this matchup here, Zakuani and Williams. Steve Zakuani with his creativity and Sheanon Williams who is very good defensively and also add depth to Philadelphia's attack. Look for these two to battle it out.

Philadelphia front line vs Seattle Sounders back line - I already said the Sounders had difficulties shutting down Le Toux and Mwanga, but now Philadelphia's attacking front looks even more dangerous with the acquisition of Carlos Ruiz. I think this matchup will decide whether or not Seattle will win this game.

What's the difference between this years Philadelphia team and last years?:

Much like last year, Peter Nowak has done a fantastic job bringing in veterans like Danny Califf, and also bringing in some young talent. We of course remember the 2008 Expansion Draft. I was listening online that day and I had a bad feeling that Sebastien Le Toux was gonna be selected. There were some big names that Nowak selected, including Alejandro Moreno, Andrew Jacobson, Stefani Miglioranzi and when I heard Le Toux's name last, I can't remember what my reaction was, but I can tell you, there was nothing to smile about. Le Toux made 28 appearances with the Sounders in 09' and scored only 1 goal, then Peter Nowak picks him up in the Expansion Draft and he ends up scoring 14 goals in 28 matches, which is even more disappointing to me because I still felt like we should've kept Stebastien Le Toux. The fans loved him when he was with the USL squad and were really excited to see that he was the first player signed by the MLS Sounders, and seeing him go, I was just upset. Alot of us are still talking about that, saying that we should've protected Le Toux, and I'm sure that even though he did very little in terms of scoring goals, the fans were upset after hearing about Le Toux's departure.

Aside form Le Toux, Nowak drafted three players in the first round of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, including former Oregon State Beaver, Danny Mwanga as #1 overall. Mwanga after his sophomore year considered leaving Oregon State to play in Europe, but Nowak talked him into staying in America and he selects him as the first overall pick. Other key acquisitions prior to 2010 of course included Danny Califf, they brought in Justin Mapp in the last half of the season. So Nowak already had this team going the right direction.

This year, it almost felt like they lost a lot of players, which they did. Michael Orozco is now back in Mexico, playing for San Luis. Shea Salinas, Alejandro Moreno, Chris Seitz and Fred have all left. But they brought in veteran goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon from 1. FC Koln, Carlos Valdes from Club Santa Fe, Brian Carroll from the Columbus Crew, Carlos Ruiz from Aris FC, Keon Daniel from the Puerto Rico Islanders and they also drafted goalkeeper Zach McMath in the first round of the 2011 draft. So this team is gonna get stronger and stronger.