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| Sebastian Le Toux |
By John McMullen
jmcmullen@phanaticmag.com
CHESTER (The Phanatic Magazine) - Sebastien Le Toux continued his late-season surge as Philadelphia topped DC United, 3-2, in a match with major playoff implications in the heavily jumbled Eastern Conference.
Le Toux scored two first half goals on the pitch at PPL Park and rookie Michael Farfan added the eventual game-winner in the 57th minute for the Union (10-7-13, 43 points), who jumped ahead of both Columbus and Houston and into second place in the East, just one point behind conference leader Sporting KC with four games to play. Philadelphia also has a game in hand on all three of those clubs.
The top three teams from both the Eastern and Western Conference make the MLS postseason as well as four wild cards. Currently the Union are four points ahead of what would be the final playoff team, Red Bull New York.
Rookie goalkeeper Zac MacMath made his fifth straight start for the Union in place of injured All-Star Faryd Mondragon and improved to 2-0-3.
With the game even at two Farfan put Philadelphia back on top in the 57th minute, taking a little touch pass from Roger Torres and blowing by DC defender Brandon McDonald before blasting a left-footed laser past netminder Bill Hamid from outside the area.
The Union took the early advantage when Carlos Valdes went over the top of the DC defense to find a leaking Le Toux, who slid it past Hamid on the short-side in the fourth minute.
The red-hot Le Toux struck again in the 15th minute when Farfan lofted a beautiful pass over McDonald. The Frenchman controlled the ball off his chest before finding the upper right corner of net for his ninth marker in his last eight games and his 10th overall.
DC United (9-9-11, 38 pts) fought back cutting the deficit in half in the 22nd minute when Dwayne De Rosario headed in Austin Da Luz's corner kick for his MLS-leading 14th goal of the season.
Andy Najar deadlocked things in the 30th going coast-to coast after a Philadelphia scoring opportunity. The DC midfielder raced down the right side and put a nice stutter-step move on Farfan before knocking it past
MacMath inside the near post.
The Union return to action on Sunday when they travel to the Left Coast to take on Chivas USA. The team's regular season finale at PPL Park is Oct. 15 against Toronto FC.
UNION Dues:
*Philadelphia's three substitutions were Justin Mapp for Amobi Okugo at intermission, Freddy Adu for Torres in the 60th minute and Kyle Nakazawa for Sheanon Williams in the 80th.
*Attendance was 17,963.
*D.C. and Philadelphia split the points in their last contest against one another, playing to a 2-2 draw on July 2 in the nations' capital.
*Mondragon remains sidelined with a fractured finger while third-string netminder Thorne Holder was also unavailable due to a concussion.
*Williams (hamstring) and F Veljko Paunovic (left calf strain) both started despite nagging injuries. MF Stefani Miglioranzi (right knee inflammation) and F Danny Mwanga (hip flexor strain) did not dress.
*Le Toux has 24 goals and 19 assists for Philadelphia since the start of last season. No player in MLS has more goals and assists over that time frame. De Rosario is second with 39 combined markers and helpers since 2010.
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