The Seattle Sounders normally don't travel well to the east coast. They were hoping that a visit to Chester, PA and the Philadelphia Union would bring a turn about of good fortune. The match started brightly for Seattle with Mauro Rosales showing the talent that the Sounders were hoping would be on display. He was linking up fairly well with Leo Gonzalez and Steve Zakuani early in the first half.
Philadelphia Union Vs. Seattle Sounders: Sounders Earn Draw With Late Equalizer
It appeared that the Sounders would be able to sneak the first goal, but the Union began to push back. Kyle Nakazawa would draw a foul on Osvaldo Alonso in a very dangerous position. Carlos Ruiz would take the free kick and put it past Kasey Keller to give the Union a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.
The second half started the way the first half ended with the Union having the better of play. In the 50th minute, Sebastian Le Toux would break through the Seattle backline, and it appeared he would finally score his first goal of the season. Le Toux would get his shot off only to put it directly at Keller.
After struggling to really get going on the offensive end for the first 65 minutes of the match, Sigi Schmid finally decided it was time to put on Fredy Montero.
Montero entered the game along with Nate Jaqua for O'Brian White and Leonardo Gonzalez, and he would have an immediate impact. The Sounders began to make more precise attacks on the Union goal testing Farid Mondragón with a few dangerous shot attempts at this point. Danny Califf would appear to be the Union's hero in the 78th minute, when he blocked a powerful shot from Brad Evans while standing on the goal line.
Seattle would have one more trick up their sleeve and brought on Uruguayan Álvaro Fernández. A loose ball in the Philadelphia goal box would be collected to Montero. He turned and lifted the ball back into the box where it met the head of Fernández and tucked in the far post in the 91st minute for an equalizer.
For the majority of the match it felt like it was just a matter of time before the Union put a second goal past Keller, but you can only hold back the talent of players with the quality of Montero and Fernández for a short time. The Sounders will head back to Seattle with one point won, while Philadelphia will definitely be looking at this match as one they should have won all three points.
While the stadium was about half full due to the poor weather, I do want to point out that the Sons of Ben were out in full voice. The traveling contingent of Seattle fans was very nice too.
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