I'm just hoping to win it all so nick sak and jay come out during the trophy presentation and I can boo them.
I also think that if the appeal that red card, they win the appeal. That was one of the most baffling decisions I've ever seen.
Was at a bar in DC for the WWC semifinal and AO-DC were also giving updates on this game. Didn't sound good at first, red card and a goal, but pleased to follow the game on Twitter on my way back on the metro and hear them perform much better. Unfortunately I wasn't still in the bar to mock everyone with my Union scarf! Game worth watching in full? I have a few hours to kill, might watch it considering the circumstances.
Instant classic, shout-out and a thank you to @UnionDues for the tickets! The best part of the game was the wild cheering when the 4th ref changed the sub from 10 to 11. I also look forward to Sapong's appeal being rejected.
Can they appeal a Red Card in the USOC? I thought that was for MLS league matches? Tonight was fun again. What is it with the Union and USOC matches and the weather?!?!?! Gutsy comeback and performance after Fotis did his best Geiger impression. Seriously, Sapong was sent off for what exactly?? And how exactly was the guy who decked Ayuk after the play not sent off? Wenger ......it's not his season, it just isn't. Still amazed he didn't score on that play. A win is a win..........Go Cosmos? I just threw up in my mouth...................
Would love cosmos at home but would also love to see what kind of sh!t mls/ussf would pull to avoid having red bulls forfeit. Either way I'll be entertained.
Well, they decided to give Dempsey a 2 year/ 80,000 mile ban or something like that, so I certainly hope they review the legitimacy of the occasional nonsense.
Best Union game I've ever been to. Soaked to the bone and so worth it. When Sapong got the (completely BS) red card I honestly thought the game was over. Too early in the game, no real replacement for him, didn't think the team could fight through it. Damn was I happy to see that in person, thought I was going to blow out my vocal chords screaming for Fabs goal. I thought McCarthy played great this game. Not nearly as much hesitation and bad decisions coming off the line. Had a bunch of easy saves, a few really good ones, and that one spectacular save with the assist from Richie. Honestly, I was (am) part of the Wenger hate crew. The guy has literally had the worst season ever and his play tonight was the perfect example. But I'm starting to think the stars are aligned against him or something now. That is the only way he could possibly hit both posts on that shot. In that moment I legitimately felt bad for him. Chaco looked weak again. I really like the guy but he's just underperforming too much, at least to my expectations. Too many touches near the box, tries to make too many passes, too many inaccurate passes, and goddamn did he need to shoot too many times, and the one time he does it was no where near close. I was getting pretty down on Sheanon for a while, but he has been a real workhorse lately. Trucking up and down the field like a madman playing on both sides of the ball. One of the guys you can tell is playing with heart. His lead up and assist on Ayuk's goal was incredible. BC was awesome tonight! Showed a glimpse of his old self. He was the reason we held it down defensively and was able to turn this game around. Fabinho. FABINHO! Hero of the match, and damn did he deserve that goal. Also thoroughly enjoyed the "That's my cousin" chants when he came on lol
I hate that the Negadelphian in me is always yammering away, but I can't help but be bothered by one glaring thing from that match. Did we show grit? YES! Was it an awesome comeback? HELL YEAH! Should we have had to fight back so hard to comeback in that match? NO....what? No? Take a look at the following tables showing the starting lineups (with their regular season stats) and the problem slaps you right in the face. I know the FO spin would be, "well we take this a lot more seriously than the other teams." Which is fine, but the fact remains, when you look at these lineups, the Union SHOULD have won the game, and should NEVER have had to make it that gut wrenching. Good win...but the team is still not very good. DC United Starting XI NAMEPOSMINSAPPSSTARTS RobinsonD000 OpareD12551413 MishuD16222 BirnbaumD9051111 DoyleMF668147 JeffreyMF6121 HalstiMF35754 AguilarMF456134 CoriaF12661 ArrietaF10021713 DykstraGK32844 Philadelphia Union Starting XI NAMEPOSMINSAPPSSTARTS EduD16201818 GaddisD12291514 MarquezD79398 WilliamsD12671615 WengerMF13201917 CarrollMF8611110 MaidanaMF11861613 AyukMF581156 NogueiraMF11951514 SapongF73976 McCarthyGK45055
Sapong led with his elbow and got the DCU player in the neck with his elbow. Doing that and making contact above the shoulders with your elbow is asking for the referee to have to make a decision. In no world will an appeal be successful. Did it deserve red? Perhaps not, but Sapong put himself in position where it could be seen as endangering his opponent's safety, regardless of his intent and thus a red card was justifiable.
That's the thing, though. It took the dumb red card and for DCU to go up a man for this team to suddenly realize, "Wow! We should be running over these guys." The team definitely shifted into a higher gear. Not sure if it was because they felt embarrassed by their play against a B-Squad, if Curtin ripped into them, if it was the frustration with the ref lit a fire, or a combination of all of these things. The truth is, though, down a man, or not, we played our starters against a B-Side and, once again, we opened the game by playing down to our competition.
And yet the rest of the time, we whine that most of our starters would not be starters on other MLS sides. Certainly not Supporters Shield-challenging sides. You can't have it both ways.
All I want is for the team to play a good 90 minutes. Without extra garbage, without anything gimmicky, or drama. Unfortunately we can't do that right now. I'll take the win because I wanted the US Open Cup last year, and I want to win it this year. But I'm tired of all the extra crap this team brings with it. I end not being able to enjoy wins because of all the extraneous stuff like Nick pissing me off, the way we started out against an inferior squad, the lack of depth. I just want to enjoy the game, and the team, as I did from 2010-2012 (and even 2012 was pushing it).
With the delays, the weather, the reffing already stretching the game, that 30 minutes would have felt like an hour.
Wonder where he went, then? Plenty of tweets were adamant that he got into his car at halftime. Maybe he just ran over to Ginn's.
One of the most fun Union games I've ever been to. Fabinho is the man. Red card was completely wrong.