PHILADELPHIA -- Sébastian Le Toux scored a hat trick and the Philadelphia Union brought soccer back to the City of Brotherly Love in style on Saturday. The expansion side held off D.C. United 3-2 in front of a crowd of 34,870 in their home debut at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philly struck first with early pressure from the wings. In the fourth minute, Roger Torres swung the ball in towards the near post for Le Toux, who calmly slotted it home for the 1-0 lead.
The Union controlled play for the next 20 minutes, as D.C. seemed willing to allow the home side to dictate the tempo. Philly doubled its lead in the 40th minute, thanks again to the French forward.
Running onto a great deep ball from Alejandro Moreno, Le Toux beat out two United defenders and slotted home into the far corner of Troy Perkins’ net.
The home team remained in the driver’s seat after the restart as well with impressive possession on the ball. The Union also got another look early in the second half as Alejandro Moreno took a deep ground pass and dummied it to Le Toux, who was in on goal but put the ball right into Perkins, who was off his line quickly.
United had a solid chance in the 60th minute when Philly defender Cristian Arrieta fouled Santino Quaranta just outside the Union area. Chris Pontius took the free kick but wasn’t able to test ‘keeper Chris Seitz, who watched the ball float over his net.
But momentum slowly started to shift United’s way, and it wasn’t long until D.C. got on the board. In the 63rd, Quaranta again put pressure on the Union back line and, this time, instead of being fouled, went for the left-footed blast from the right side of the area. The shot curled nicely into the near post past the outstretched hand of Seitz to cut Philadelphia’s lead in half.
Seven minutes later, D.C. evened things up as Jaime Moreno was able to poach a goal literally right out of Seitz’s hands. The United ‘keeper went to clear the ball on a drop- kick when Moreno jumped in front of him, snatched it and deposited the ball into an open net.
Controversy struck the match in the 79th minute when Moreno spun around United defender Dejan Jakovic just outside the area. Jakovic saw red for the challenge as it was deemed a bit too harsh by referee Terry Vaughn’s standards.
Stepping up to take the free kick was Le Toux, who magically slotted home his third goal to return the lead to Philly for good.
Scoring Summary:
PHI -- Sébastien Le Toux 1 (Roger Torres 1, Alejandro Moreno 1) 4
PHI -- Sébastien Le Toux 2 (Alejandro Moreno 2) 40
DC -- Santino Quaranta 1 (unassisted) 63
DC -- Jaime Moreno 1 (unassisted) 70
PHI -- Sébastien Le Toux 3 (unassisted) 80
Misconduct Summary:
DC -- Rodney Wallace (caution; Reckless Foul) 35
DC -- Brandon Barklage (caution; Reckless Tackle) 41
PHI -- Cristian Arrieta (caution; Tactical Foul) 60
DC -- Danny Allsopp (caution; Reckless Tackle) 66
DC -- Santino Quaranta (caution; Tactical Foul) 73
DC -- Dejan Jakovic (ejection; Denied Goal Scoring Opportunity (Foul) 78
DC -- Adam Cristman (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 89
Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee's Assistants: Chris Strickland; Jason Cullum
4th Official: Hilario Grajeda
Weather: Sunny and 63 degrees
Attendance: 34,870
NOTE: Union head coach Peter Nowak was not on the bench, following the death of the Polish president earlier Saturday. Assistant coach John Hackworth handled all bench coaching and media responsibilities, though Nowak was in contact from a booth in the stadium. The nation of Poland is under a week of national mourning.
