Chester, PA (The Phanatic Magazine) - A whole host of scoring chances went awry early for the Union and Philadelphia was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake in front of sellout crowd of 18,728 on the Delaware Riverfront.
Keon Daniel scored his first MLS goal for Union (6-3-4, 22 points), who extended their unbeaten streak to four games and are now tied atop the Eastern table with Red Bull New York. Fabian Espindola's second half marker evened things for RSL (6-3-3, 21 points), which had kicked off a two-game Eastern swing with a 2-1 setback in Columbus earlier in the week.
The Union, who were coming off a 1-1 draw with defending MLS Cup champions Colorado, took a 1-0 edge into intermission but things could have been much worse for RSL.
Daniel nearly put Philadelphia on top in the 22nd minute when Sebastien Le Toux finished off his cross but the play was whistled offside, keeping things scoreless for the time being. Less than two minutes later, however, Daniel headed in a cross from Michael Farfan for his first MLS marker.
Farfan nearly doubled the Union lead from distance in the 28th minute but RSL Goalkeeper Nick Rimando made a brilliant save by punching the strike over the crossbar.
Philadelphia kept up the pressure from there and a minute later Danny Mwanga found Le Toux in space but the All-Star grazed the top of the crossbar with a crisp strike.
In the 33rd minute Sheanon Williams cracked a one-timer off a feed from Farfan but Rimando was equal to the task again. The RSL netminder faced five shots on the goal in the first half, stopping three while his counterpart, Faryd Mondragon, didn't see any action.
The failed opportunities would come back to haunt the Union when Real Salt Lake forward Jean Alexandre won the ball from Farfan in the center of the pitch and fed the ball ahead to a streaking Espindola, who beat Mondragon to the far side on a low shot from beyond the area in the 53rd minute for his third goal of the season.
Mondragon was incensed feeling Alexandre pushed Farfan to gain control.
Chances slowed in the waning moments with Philadelphia's best opportunity to win it coming in the 83rd minute when Mwanga's header off a cross from Justin Mapp went just over the crossbar, landing harmlessly atop the net.
The Union remained without the services of striker Carlos Ruiz because of international duty while midfielder Amobi Okugo sat with a sprained left ankle.
Philadelphia, which has recorded points in all seven of its home matches this season (4-0-3), returns to MLS action next Saturday in Vancouver.
UNION Dues:
*Farfan started despite struggling with a strained right groin while Mapp and Stefani Miglioranzi, normal starters also dealing with groin injuries, were available off the bench. Mapp came in as a substitute for Jordan Harvey in the 58th minute. Miglioranzi did not play.
*The Union's other subs were Roger Torres for Daniel in the 67th minute and Jack McInerney for Kyle Nakazawa in the 74th.
*MF Zach Pfeffer, 16, was available off the bench for the first time today. Pfeffer was signed as the Union's first homegrown player at the age of 15 years and 350 days. He was also the fourth youngest player ever to sign an MLS contract.
Scoring Summary:
PHI -- Keon Daniel 1 (Michael Farfan 1) 24
RSL -- Fabian Espindola 3 (Jean Alexandre 2) 53
Real Salt Lake -- Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell (Tony Beltran 57), Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert, Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil (Collen Warner 83), Andy Williams, Fabian Espindola, Jean Alexandre (Artur Aghasyan 71).
Substitutes Not Used: Nelson Gonzalez, Rauwshan McKenzie, Chris Schuler, Kyle Reynish.
Philadelphia Union -- Faryd Mondragon, Sheanon Williams, Danny Califf, Carlos Valdes, Jordan Harvey (Justin Mapp 57), Keon Daniel (Roger Torres 67), Brian Carroll, Kyle Nakazawa (Jack McInerney 73), Michael Farfan, Sebastien Le Toux, Danny Mwanga.
Substitutes Not Used: Juan Diego Gonzalez, Stefani Miglioranzi, Zach Pfeffer, Zac MacMath.
Misconduct Summary:
RSL -- Robbie Russell (caution; Reckless Tackle) 43
RSL -- Jean Alexandre (caution; Reckless Tackle) 54
Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Referee's Assistants: Paul Scott; James Conlee
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Cloudy-and-79-degrees
Attendance: 18,728 (sellout)
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