MLS Opens 2010 - Sounders over Union

Philadelphia had to cringe when the 2010 MLS schedules came out.  MLS could not have picked a more cruel way to welcome the expansion Union into the MLS.  Opening night, on the other side of the country, in the most difficult place to play in the whole league.  Let's face it.  There are no better fans than the Seattle fans.  Over 36,000 sang and cheered the whole game last night.

The Union actually started ok in the tough environment.  Coach Peter Nowak is clearly in building mode as he ran out a very young squad and let them take their lumps and learn.  The opening ten minutes they held their own.  Then Seattle struck.  A nice buildup in the 12th minute saw Steve Zakuani deep in the box after a overlapping run.   Zakuani slipped the ball back frolm the endline to Brad Evans who knocked it home for the lead.  The crowd went nuts and the Union were in trouble.

The next 30 minutes were contentious at best.  Hard fouls, cautions and players protesting were the norm and it was the Union to suffer once again.  Toni Stahl received his 2nd yellow in the 40th minute and Philadelphia was down to 10 men despite the protests from Nowak who spent most of his postgame press conference cmoplaining about Freddie Ljungberg and the Seattle diving.  Either way, the Union would play with 10 the rest of the evening.

It only took Seattle a couple of minutes to take advantage of the extra man.  A corner was cleared by the Union, but they failed to push out and the ball back in found the dangerous Fredy Montero lurking in the six for a diving header to make it 2-0.  The young Union went to halftime in dire trouble and many just worried how bad it would get in the 2nd half.

Instead, Peter Nowak rallied the troops and Philadelphia put a valiant effort in the next half of play.  The Union kept Seattle off the board and kept the game 2-0.  It was clear the young Union took something positive from the match despite the difficult opening half.  On the other hand, Seattle could be a real threat to all of MLS this year.  They have a talented squad and very few will be able to go to Seattle and get a result.