MLS Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union Fall to Sporting Kansas City 3-2 at Sporting Park

April 6, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Philadelphia Union News Release


Kansas City, Kansas (April 5, 2015) - Philadelphia Union lost to Sporting Kansas City, 3-2, Sunday night at Sporting Park in front of 19,545 fans. Jalil Anibaba and Krisztian Nemeth scored stoppage time goals to lift Sporting, while Fernando Aristeguieta scored his third goal of the season - tied for second best in MLS - for the Union.

"We talked a lot about restarts being a big part of this game," head coach Jim Curtin said. "I thought we did well on them, attacking, but we weren't good enough defending them. The guys are disappointed, I thought they put in a ton of hard work, but again it comes up short and we leave here with nothing."

The Union were off and flying in the third minute when Sebastien Le Toux's corner kick deflected off Jacob Peterson for an own goal. Andrew Wenger was in on the play, forcing Peterson into a difficult position, which ultimately led to the goal.

Sporting equalized 13 minutes later on a corner of their own. Through a scramble in the box, Dom Dwyer was able to pop free and get on the end of Benny Feilhaber's kick and headed it home.

But the Union came storming back and earned a free kick along the right sideline. Sebastien Le Toux sent in a perfect ball for Aristeguieta, who acrobatically latched onto the ball and was able to head it with enough pace past Luis Marin.

The Union thought they scored a third in the 53rd minute off a free kick that fell perfectly to Ariseguieta, who beat Marin for what appeared to be a goal. But Maurice Edu, who was the first in to touch it, was ruled to be offside.

A mad scramble in the 91st minute tied the game for Sporting. Anibaba finally latched onto a ball inside the 6-yard box and slotted it past a diving Mbolhi. Three minutes later, Nemeth scored the gamewinner after Matt Besler headed on a corner kick from Feilhaber.

For the Union, Eric Ayuk Mbu made his first MLS start. The 18-year-old Cameroonian midfielder had made two appearances as a substitute this year. Also, Raymond Lee made his MLS debut when he subbed on for Fabinho in the 78th minute. Born in Saint Louis, Mo., Lee was the No. 71 overall pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.

The Union next play NYCFC, Saturday, April 11 at PPL Park. Kick-off is at 4 p.m.

Check out the Philadelphia Union Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from April 6, 2015


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