Sun, Apr 22nd 2012, 11:10
CARSON, Calif. — The Philadelphia Union (2-3-1) held on for a second consecutive victory despite two second-half red cards, edging Chivas USA (3-4-1) 1-0 at The Home Depot Center on Saturday. Freddy Adu’s 40th minute goal proved to be the difference as goalkeeper Zac MacMath and Philadelphia’s defense extended their shutout streak to 332 minutes.
Following an opening 40 minutes that offered few scoring opportunities, the Union opened their account after a series of dribbling moves by midfielder Michael Farfan led to a cross into the middle. After the service deflected off of Chivas defender James Riley, Adu opportunistically back-heeled the ball into the side netting for a 1-0 Philadelphia advantage.
Chivas’ nearly leveled two minutes later when midfielder Nick LaBrocca launched a shot from nearly 20 yards that forced a save from MacMath.
The second half was a physical affair, with both Keon Daniel and Gabriel Farfan receiving red cards in the 75th and 85th minutes, respectively. Daniel received a straight red for a studs-up challenge on the Goats’ Ryan Smith, while Farfan was red-carded after a hard tackle on Riley. Farfan’s challenge led to a scuffle between both teams, which saw Union manager Peter Nowak ejected after entering the field of play.