D.C. United Prove No Match For Marco Fabian and the Philadelphia Union

Fabian nails 2 goals and 1 assist for Philly’s 12th win of the season

The battle for first place in the MLS Eastern Conference intensified today when D.C. United battled the Philadelphia Union today at Audi Field. Both teams came into the game following disappointing results before the MLS All-Star Break. Philadelphia was pummeled 4-0 at the hands of the Montreal Impact and D.C. United tied with the Chicago Fire.

The action began early at the 3rd minute when Alejandro Bedoya struck a low ball from outside the box to get the Union on the board. The goal originated from a long ball to Andrew Wooten that seemed lost until the United defender kept the ball from going out of bounds which allowed Wooten to steal the ball. Wooten traveled towards the middle of the field finding a trailing Marco Fabian who delivered a pass to Bedoya who kicked it into the back of the net.

While possession was about even for both teams in the first half, the Union were the ones capitalizing on chances with 16 shots. 7 of those shots that were on target. D.C. United’s first shot on goal came from Wayne Rooney via a freekick at the 30th minute, which spoke volumes on how fluid United’s offense looked. 

During D.C. United’s best stretch of the game, where they were knocking at Philadelphia’s door with back to back corner kicks, the Union took advantage of a United error near midfield and earned themselves a penalty kick. Kacper Przybylko drew a foul in the box and after a VAR review determined that United’s Júnior Moreno had not made a play on the ball, he was given a red card. Przybylko was put in charge of extending the lead from the 12-yard mark but sailed the ball over the crossbar that kept the game close.

Philadelphia exploited the fact that United was reduced down to 10 men on the field and overloaded D.C.’s goal area with numbers. Just before the first half concluded, Marco Fabian scored his 5th goal of the campaign after Wagner slipped him a ball inside the box. United’s players looked frustrated with no clear plan of attack, add on the wide gaps that they left on the field and they were in for a long game if the necessary changes did not come at half-time.

Turnovers plagued United again in the beginning stages of the second half. In the 52nd minute, the United midfield lost the ball which led to an easy goal sequence for the Union. The turnover gave Przybylko a chance to make up for his penalty miss in the first half by striking a ball from the left side of the box to make the score 3-0 for the team from Philly. 

United finally stopped some of the bleeding in the 54th minute with a goal that came from a set-piece play. After a bit of a scramble inside the 6-yard box after a header from Steve Birnbaum, Frédéric Brillant pushed the ball past the goal line to make the score 3-1. 

D.C. almost cut the deficit to within one at the 59th, when Arriola sneaked past the Union’s backline and tried to chip the ball past Philadelphia’s Blake but his shot bounced just wide. Arriola again pressured Philly’s defense just minutes later after a pass from Luciano Acosta that found him one on one against Philly’s keeper who was way outside his line. Arriola easily dribbled past him but the momentum of his run resulted in his shot on goal going over the crossbar.

All hope for a comeback was dashed when Marco Fabian secured his brace in the 70th minute of the game. Fabian received the ball inside the box after a crafty pass from Haris Medunjanin that allowed him to fake out a sliding D.C. defender and toe kick the ball past the United keeper.

United had a couple more chances before the end of the game but none of them really proved to be dangerous. Substitute Fabrice-Jean Picault put the icing on the cake by scoring late in the game and making the game 5-1 in favor of the visiting team.

The Philadelphia Union will now sit by themselves atop of the MLS Eastern Conference standings and will now host the Houston Dynamo on August 11th. D.C. United will next play the struggling LA Galaxy who should have Zlatan Ibrahimovic in their lineup after his 1 game suspension.