After their first loss in more than two months, FC Dallas are back home this weekend as they look to bounce back and maintain the league's best overall record.
Dallas's opponents tonight are the San Jose Earthquakes, who pulled off some more second-half heroics last weekend to tie the Colorado Rapids.
Come Sunday afternoon, Red Bull Arena certainly won't be short of star power.
Fresh off a 4-1 win midweek over Philadelphia, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and the Los Angeles Galaxy will try to make it 2-for-2 on their East Coast swing with a win over Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill and the New York Red Bulls.
Bethlehem Steel FC will not be the last Philadelphia area soccer team the Philadelphia Union pay homage to, as the Major League Soccer club intends to celebrate more of the city's long history with the sport in future editions of their alternate jersey.
Nick Sakiewicz, the Philadelphia's CEO and managing partner, informed Philly Current that the Union want to continue involving teams of the city's past in the club's third jersey moving forward.
The Fire will host the Philadelphia Union on May 11. It's possible Bakary Soumare will be there even if he's not a member of the visiting team. In the latest episode of the Fire Confidential Podcast, Soumare talks about his return to MLS last season and where he could be headed this year. Chicago is in the running but there are issues that need to be worked out before a trade can be facilitated.
This Saturday the 1-3-2 New England Revolution take on the 3-2-2 Philadelphia Union at Gillette. To help preview the game and give a Union perspective, I interviewed Dan Walsh, editor and founder, of The Philly Soccer Page.
Its been a good start to the season for Philadelphia with only one defeat in your last seven games.
Frustrated at a lack of playing time, Philadelphia Union defender Bakary Soumare has requested a trade away from PPL Park, and it looks like the Union are going to shop him around. The prospect is certain to have several MLS clubs salivating, but are the New England Revolution among them?
Speaking solely on Soumare's merits, it's a move that can only improve the Revolution defense.
Last year's record: 10 - 18 - 6 (eight out of 10 in the Eastern Conference, 16 out of 19 in Major League Soccer)
Key additions: Conor Casey, Sebastien Le Toux, Pat Anding
Key losses: Gabriel Gomez, Peter Nowak, Carlos Valdes
Projected starting lineup: (4-3-3 / 4-3-2-1) Zac MacMath / (r-l) Sheanon Williams, Jeff Parke, Bakary Soumare, Gabriel Farfan / Brian Carroll (CDM), Amobi Okugo, Michael Farfan / Le Toux, Jack McInerney / Casey - Bench: Chris Konopka (goalkeeper), Antoine Hoppenot, Roger Torres, Michael Lahoud, Raymon Gaddis, Chris Albright, Danny Cruz
For the Philadelphia Union, a trade had seemed inevitable for weeks. With Bakary Soumare unpleased about his role on the team, head coach John Hackworth had no issue helping the center back find a new home.
However, it would be Gabriel Farfan, and not Soumare to be the first player traded from the Union this season.
Lee Nguyen scored his first goal of the season against the Union on Saturday. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)
In an emotionally-charged game played under nearly ideal conditions, the New England Revolution beat the Philadelphia Union cleanly, 2-0, on Saturday night.
The Revs had the better of the game after the first seven minutes, scoring two sweet and well-deserved goals in the second half.
In front of an expectedly low Sunday evening crowd of 12,349, D.C. United dropped their fourth straight game (and fifth overall, all within the first seven games of the 2013 season) to the Philadelphia Union 3-2. It was a game that felt desperate even before the opening kick, but D.C. United made it even more desperate only 11 minutes into the match when they found themselves down by two goals.
On loan from QPR We know what we are. We have an ounce of self-awareness that we dabble often in the dark arts of punnage and hackneyed gagging. It is our chip butty bread and butter. See? Of all MLS fixtures, we find the Philadelphia matchups the hardest when it comes to resisting temptation of woeful wordsmithing.
Ahhhh... the best seat in the house. This feels nice. I'm finally at home for an away game, which sounds like an oxymoron, but I assure you this is correct. The majority of you who are watching it are either in the same predicament, or are enjoying your footie with a pint or two, perhaps some wings or nachos, at your local.
THE KICKABOUT: What better fixture for Toronto FC to test their new hungry, young squad than against the fighting town of Philadelphia and the scrappy Union?
Since arriving in Philadelphia, Brazilian midfielder Kleberson has been patiently awaiting his chance to make his Major League Soccer debut.
That chance may come as early as this Saturday, when the Philadelphia Union play host to Toronto FC.
Speaking at his weekly press conference, Union manager John Hackworth said that he thought about putting Kleberson in during the last match, but decided against it after Columbus equalized in the second half.
CHESTER, Pa. — Jack McInerney can't quite explain it. It's still early in this 2013 campaign, but when the Philadelphia Union have found themselves in need of a goal, he's been the man to provide it. Is it skill? Is it timing?
Hear from Jay Heaps, Jose Goncalves & Juan Toja regarding this week's league match vs. the Philadelphia Union.
It's rivalry week in Major League Soccer as New England heads to Philadelphia in search of their first ever win against the Union.
The Union won both meetings at PPL Park a year ago,but the Revs coming off the 1-0 win in Chicago, their first season opener win since 2009, go into this match healthy.
Philadelphia's largest adult amateur soccer league opens its season on Saturday, with 17 matches on the schedule, as teams compete for what could be the right to play their league final at PPL Park.
Rivalries are built through years of hatred, furthered by on field performances that one never forgets, and etched forever into our memories by heart breaking moments that jade entire fan bases. This is why it makes complete sense for the New England Revolution and Philadelphia Union to meet on MLS's inaugural Rivalry Week.
A 2-1 win by the Philadelphia Union over the Colorado Rapids was spectacular for two reasons.
The first reason was that the Union managed to take three points back to Philadelphia despite statistically not performing well. The second reason was that the team score off of a corner kick, something that is almost a myth to the Union.
Article by William Schulz Week 1 Nine of the ten Eastern Conference teams were in action as Major League Soccer began its eighteenth season. Week one had it all, a come from behind victory, last gasp goals, goal fests, a crushing defeat, and wild draw. It's good to be back, isn't it?
The 2013 Major League Soccer season shoved off from the shores of the Delaware River on Saturday. The host Philadelphia Union were the dominant team in the match, but Sporting Kansas City took better advantage of their fewer chances and ... Continue reading →
MLS returns this weekend for the 2013 season. Sporting KC and Philadelphia get the honor of being the teams that actually kick the season off, with the first game on Saturday. The two teams are set to kick off at 3pm Central Time at PPL Park.
The Union handed Kansas City their worst loss of the season last year when Sporting visited the City of Brotherly Love.
Philadelphia Union's throwback jersey isn't merely an homage to Bethlehem Steel's soccer club. If you look a little deeper, it's far, far more. PSP explains.
Sporting Kansas City is back at it tomorrow against the Seattle Sounders at Sporting Park in a rematch of last year's US Open Cup final. Both teams are coming into the game on short rest, Sporting at least will have not had to travel, although they'll have one less day of rest. Seattle played in Philadelphia on Saturday earning a 2-2 draw while Kansas City took care of Chivas USA 4-0.
For the second year in a row, Sporting KC gets to make a "fun" two game road trip going from one coast to the other. Last year Sporting played Seattle to a 1-1 draw before getting beat by Philadelphia 4-0 on a Wednesday/Saturday road trip that saw them on both coasts in a 4 days span. KC gets to do that again this year starting tomorrow in New York.
For the fourth time this season, Sporting KC will get to play a home opener, for the third time it will be on the road. After playing both Philadelphia and Toronto in their home opener Sporting opened Sporting Park last week. This weekend they'll get to do another home opener, heading on the road to play the New England Revolution in their home opener.
Sporting Kansas City Missing Pieces In the first half, Sporting was completely outplayed and clearly missed the presence that departed duo Roger Espinoza and Julio Cesar brought to the midfield last season.
less than 48 hours from the start of the 2013 Sporting KC season in Philadelphia. After 2 straight regular season Eastern Conference titles, and a US Open Cup title, expectations for Sporting KC have been raised.
Via downthebyline.com: Last night during the jersey unveiling at Sporting Park, Robb Heineman said that "we gotta win MLS Cup this year.
We're less than 48 hours from the start of the 2013 Sporting KC season in Philadelphia. And I'm not sure there's been a time where expectations for the team were higher. The only time they may have been higher was the start of the 2012 season. This year though, expectations feel higher. After 2 straight regular season Eastern Conference titles and a US Open Cup title, expectations have been raised.
After taking a point on the road at Columbus, Philadelphia returned home to PPL Park to take on Toronto FC, and two familiar faces. Former Union captain Danny Califf and 2011 Supplemental Draft Pick Ryan Richter had taken their talents north of the border; Richter would enter in the seventh minute for an injured Darel Russell, while Califf would not see the field.
After a day's postponement, the Philadelphia Union and Colorado Rapids were finally able to meet in the Rapids 2013 home opener. Conor Casey's homecoming in Colorado was spoiled by a hamstring injury, and in his place coach John Hackworth tapped Jack McInerney to start up top with Sebastien Le Toux.
The Fire did what they had to do in exposing a suspect Philadelphia back line last week and created numerous opportunities to score over the course of last week's match. They only thing they didn't do was finish their chances. On Wednesday night, the Union actually played a decent first half against the Los Angeles Galaxy only allowing a Zac MacMath own goal in a 1-1 stalemate at the break.
Looking at the final numbers after the match you'd be hard pressed to explain just how the Fire managed to drop yet another home game against an opponent that they should have been able to beat. Philadelphia came into this match missing two starters on the back line and one of the replacements hadn't played a regular season match since last August.
Despite missing Obafemi Martins (knee), Shalrie Joseph (hamstring), Steve Zakuani (groin) and Osvaldo Alonso (birth of daughter), the Seattle Sounders certainly did not look like a depleted team early. In the tenth minute, the always explosive Eddie Johnson scored on a corner kick service from Mauro Rosales, and Seattle were up 1-0.
There's been little to report as to Bakary Soumare's future since making public his trade request in early March, but a Tweet from a Chicago based reporter shed some light on what has transpired since.
However, new news emerged that the 27 year-old may be returning to a familiar team in the near future.
It's no secret. The Fire are in desperate need of a win. On Sunday they'll get a chance to notch that first victory of the season against a club that has also seen their share of injury and underperformance this season. The New York Red Bulls come to Toyota Park with a record of 1-2-2 after picking up their first win of the year last weekend against Philadelphia.
A lot of fans were disappointed when the New England Revolution lost to Philadelphia last week, and with good reason; it was a sloppy game all around, but the Revs seemed to do enough to at least get out of PPL with a point. Philly basically took the game on their only clear chance in ninety minutes.
Scott Kessler: Philadelphia Union head coach John Hackworth almost said to the team's media yesterday that there is no rivalry whatsoever with the Revolution. How does the Massachusetts club and its fan base feel about such a situation? Is there a rivalry? Or is this so called rivalry week a farce for these two sides?
