The Philadelphia Union II continued their MLS NEXT Pro campaign on Sunday afternoon against early-season strugglers the Chicago Fire II. Philly drew but lost the extra point in a Penalty shootout. Here’s how the game went.
Union II Lose Extra Point to Fire II
First Half:
The first 10 minutes of the first half were all Union as they dominated possession and put the Chicago Fire II backline under huge pressure. In the 12th minute, Union II thought they had found the lead when Chris Donovan put the ball past the Fire goalkeeper; however, the officials had other ideas. After the Union celebrations had ended, the Fire II players complained to the ref, who went over to his linesman and after a lengthy discussion, the ref came to the decision to rule the goal out for offside in the buildup, even though the linesman never flagged for offside…
A few minutes later and the referee decided to continue having the worst game I’ve ever seen an official have in any sport as he gave a penalty to Chicago after a Union II defender made a perfectly good slide tackle in the box. Chicago Fire converted the penalty to put them 1-0 up.
Union II carried on dominating the game and had a few chances to equalize but couldn’t find the back of the net. Chris Donovan had the best chance but he headed straight at Chicago’s goalkeeper from Six yards out.
Chicago Fire would then, undeservedly, increase their lead in the game to 2-0 after a poor decision from Union II goalkeeper Brooks Thompson, who was making his debut for Philly. Chicago got in behind Philly’s backline and Thompson started to run off his line and then backtracked, Chicago’s forward then hit a shot at Thompson and it went underneath Philly’s goalkeeper, just a nightmare play for the debutant.
Second Half:
The second half was as wild as a football game can be. Five minutes into the second half and Chris Donovan was taken down in the penalty box and then Cole Turner converted the penalty to get one goal back for the Union. In the 60th minute, a Chicago Fire II player was sent off for a tackle and the Union gained an advantage in the game.
Within 60 seconds of the Fire player being sent off, Boubacar Diallo put a wonderful ball into the box and Chris Donovan was there to head the ball past Chicago’s keeper to get the Union level at 2-2. In the 70th minute, the referee kept up the worst officiated game I’ve ever seen by sending off Union II midfielder Jack Jasinski for what looked like a normal yellow card foul, so it was 10 men vs 10 men for the remaining 20 minutes.
Thankfully for the Union, they took the lead a few minutes after Jasinski’s red card thanks to a Chris Donovan finish that gives him a brace on the day. Union II had a few more chances to kill the game off and they gave promising striker Juan Riasco his debut in the 80th minute.
Unfortunately for the Union, just like the Inter Miami II game two games ago, they conceded a 90th-minute equalizer after a scramble in the box from a corner. The game ended in a 3-3 draw and onto the penalties to decide who’d get the extra point.
Chicago takes the Extra Point
Craig started the shootout off and converted, 1-0 Philly. Chicago hero Offor took their first penalty and slotted it home, 1-1. Jackson Gilman misses Philly’s 2nd penalty. Monis’s penalty just gets past Thompson, 2-1 Chicago. Stefan Stojanovic scored Philly’s 3rd while Josh Penn scores Chicago’s 3rd so Chicago is 3-2 up after 3 penalties. Chris Donovan capped off a great game by scoring Philly’s 4th penalty, while Matteo Kid keeps Chicago going perfect through four. Cole Turner scores his 2nd penalty of the day but Ryan Quintos just squeezes his penalty past Thompson, so the Fire II wins the penalty shootout and takes the extra point.
Terrible performance defensively for the Union II and it’s becoming a major worry and issue for them now, they just look lost at the back, and for the 2nd time in 3 games they give up a 90th minute equalizer. Union II was the much better side but they drop 2 points to a very poor Chicago Fire II side. My takeaway from the game: Someone tell Stevie Wonder that if his bank account starts to dry up, he can always be a ref in the MLS NEXT Pro…
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Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union, Andrew Zwarych
