September 11, 2016
Earl Gardner/Philly Soccer Page
Chris Pontius and Tranquillo Barnetta celebrate the Union's opening goal in Saturday night's 1-1 draw with Montreal.
A muggy night in Chester featured a halftime marriage proposal and a post-game pitch invasion, with a shirtless Union fan jumping the west-end barricade, running across the field, then jumping the River End barricade and running up the steps leading to the locker room.
The security guard who chased him did not clear the barricade and instead clipped it, like a hurdler who just didn't get enough air.
In a way, those two events were symbolic of the Union's on-field performance. Like the marriage proposal (she said yes), there was plenty to feel good about. Jim Curtin's team fought through a slow start and bagged a brilliant goal just before halftime. They were out-shot at home but did held up defensively and did enough to win the game.
Similar to the security guard, they made it all the way to the end before stumbling. In the 88th minute, Montreal played a short corner, chipped the ball into the box, and flicked on for a far-post equalizer.
It finished 1-1.
"Disappointed," said Tranquillo Barnetta, the Union goal scorer. "We had to close out the game earlier. We just (needed) a second goal earlier and it's over, because they didn't have really big chances, just long balls. It's hard to give up the last ball on a corner because we have to be ready for plays like this."
HT: Tranquillo Barnetta's strike gives the @PhilaUnion a 1-0 lead. #PHIvMTL https://t.co/WYBNocTMpU
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 11, 2016
Montreal started on the front foot and had two chances for an early lead.
It started with Ignacio Piatti cutting to his left and firing towards goal, striking Lucas Ontivero with the ball caroming wide of the post.
Later, Ambroise Oyongo was sent free up the left channel and played a perfect low service across the goalmouth, but Patrice Bernier couldn't shift his feet and tap in from close range.
The Impact finished with five shots on goal but couldn't find the net until Matteo Mancosu's 88th-minute header.
“It’s not problems in the run of play, it’s restarts," said head coach Jim Curtin. "Same thing as the few games we’ve dropped points from when we were ahead: San Jose, in D.C., and now this one is the third one. They are from corner kicks, which is difficult because in the run of play we are still really tough to break down. I thought our guys did a good job on the night limiting their chances. We’ll learn from it, we’ll watch the tape, but yeah, difficult way to end it because the guys put so much in it. Everyone is disappointed."
It was a choppy game with a couple of questionable refereeing decisions. Barnetta's goal came after a horse-collar on Piatti that wasn't called.
The Union were then denied a clear penalty when Marco Donadel bundled into Fabian Herbers on the edge of the box. A converted spot-kick would have doubled the Union lead, but Armando Villarreal decided not to make the call.
In the end, the decisions were inconsistent but ultimately seemed to even out.
"They allowed for some physical play, and that’s fine," said Alejandro Bedoya. "I think there’s other games where you could blame the ref for a call that didn’t go your way. I think people were thinking that maybe the Fabian situation could’ve been a penalty. But I think this game was just up to us. We let ourselves down. We weren’t clinical enough in front of goal. We had chances and we didn’t put it away when we should’ve put the game away, 2-0 and the other team would’ve been depleted. I know for sure they would’ve put their heads down if we would’ve scored another one. We didn’t do that, and we let them stick around and that’s what happens."
FT: Matteo Mancosu heads home the late equalizer as #PHIvMTL split the points. https://t.co/ylVR4fbSp7
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 11, 2016
The Union remain in fourth place, three points ahead of Montreal and seven points above the playoff line. A win would have pulled Philadelphia into a third-place tie with Toronto and widened the gap over Montreal to six points.
Curtin's team now hits the road for three straight games against teams that currently occupy playoff positions. The Zolos are just 3-7-4 away from home this season but need to scrape points against Portland, Toronto, and/or New York Red Bulls.
"I think we're very disappointed, no?," said Fabinho. "In the last five minutes, Montreal scores, and it's hard, because before this, we have three points. But this league is a bit crazy. We have to think about the next game. We have three hard games away. But we've played good when we're away and have to look for three points, for sure."
A shirtless fan just jumped the barricade, ran the entire length of the field, then jumped over the other barricade. pic.twitter.com/MOSAi4OON4
— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) September 11, 2016
