NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Philadelphia Union

Union Earn 1-1 Draw against Columbus Crew Behind Goal from McInerney

April 6, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Philadelphia Union News Release


Columbus, Ohio. (April 6, 2013) - Philadelphia Union played Columbus Crew to a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon behind a first-half goal from forward Jack McInerney, giving the club its first-ever point in Crew Stadium.

A 34th minute goal from McInerney gave the Union a 1-0 lead going into the break, but a strike from Dominic Oduro in the 72nd minute leveled the game at one apiece. The draw gives the Union seven points on the year as the club moved to 2-2-1.

"From all the games I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them obviously, I think (Columbus) is one of the best teams in the league right now," Team Manager John Hackworth said. "So to come into Columbus - in this stadium where we've never gotten a point - to get our first point and do it against one of the best teams in the league, you've got to walk away thinking it's a result."

Philadelphia started the game bright, creating several scoring opportunities to open the game. In the 7th minute, forward Conor Casey played a ball through to midfielder Gabriel Farfan on the left side, who tried to curl a shot to the far post, but his effort went wide. Danny Cruz also got behind the defense in the 12th minute, but his attempted shot went high and wide as the midfielder didn't get a clean hit on the ball.

After a continued attack on the Columbus back line, the Union capitalized in the 34th minute of play as Casey flicked a ball behind the Crew defense to Cruz, who went in on goal. With just Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum to beat, Cruz played the ball across the face of the net with his first touch, allowing McInerney to tap it home for the score, marking his third goal in the previous four games.

Following the Union goal, the Crew applied some pressure to the Union defense, but was unable to find the back of the net before the half. Columbus almost went level just four minutes after the Union took the lead, as Dominic Oduro fired a shot inside the 18 that went just high after creating space behind the Union defense.

While Philadelphia opened the first half with several scoring opportunities, it was Columbus that applied pressure to start the second half, and eventually broke through in the 72nd minute on a goal from Oduro.

In front of Zac MacMath and the Union defense, Eddie Gaven played a ball from the top of the 18 to Oduro on the right side, as the forward got behind the Union final line of defense. Oduro gained possession and fired a shot in the upper corner of the near post, leveling Columbus 1-1.

The Union created chances to score in the final 20 minutes with substitutions Antoine Hoppenot and Michael Lahoud both coming close to giving the Union a victory, but were unable to find the final touch to put them ahead.

"It's one of those crazy games. I thought we were a much better team in the first half and should have had multiple goals," Hackworth said. "In the second half, they were really good and the tide turned on us and it was frustrating to give one up. I thought we were going to steal one there in the end because we had a couple of really good looks, but it wasn't meant to be."

With four points earned on the road this year, the Union now return home to PPL Park next week as the club faces Toronto FC on April 13, a 4 p.m. ET game on 6abc.

Check out the Philadelphia Union Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...

Major League Soccer Stories from April 6, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central