The game in 100 words (or less): Soccer on drugs. I really could leave it at that, but I’ll expound a bit more. Three absolute howlers from the two goalkeepers, a pair of goalmouth scrambles leading to nothing and a pair of goals in second-half stoppage time. Three points is three points for Sporting KC, but the ragged, uninspired performance for 91 minutes can’t be ignored. Peter Vermes’s side has a long, long way to go if they want to make the playoffs in the Western Conference.
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Three moments that mattered
3' — Marin’s early mistake puts the Union ahead — Luis Marin’s first MLS howler put the home side down early, as the Chilean goalkeeper completely whiffed his attempted punch of Sebastien Le Toux’s corner kick. One of Andrew Wenger or Jacob Peterson, positioned at the back post, chested the ball goalward and Jalil Anibaba’s attempted clearance was ruled a millisecond too late by the assistant referee, as the ball had already crossed the line.
16' — Molhi’s with a howler of his own — Rais Mbolhi matched and perhaps one-upped Marin with his latest howler. Benny Feilhaber’s corner kick was sent to the top of the six-yard box, where Mbolhi’s poor route to the ball left the Algerian ‘keeper well short of the high cross. Dom Dwyer headed the ball downward to net his first of the season.
94' — Nemeth steals it for the home side — Feilhaber’s stoppage-time corner kick found Matt Besler at the near post, where the U.S. national team defender flicked the ball on for Krisztian Nemeth at the far post. Nemeth and Raymond Lee combined to bundle the ball over the line and send the Sporting Park faithful into raptures.
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Man of the match: Rais Mbolhi — In all honesty, this game exuded the quality of a really poor 0-0 draw, if not for a number of shoddy goalkeeping blunders. Mbolhi “wins” out here, because he committed more horrific errors than his counterpart, and his team lost the game. Sorry, Rais.
LINEUPS
Sporting Kansas City: Marin, De Jong (Sinovic 46'), Besler, Opara, Anibaba, Carrasco (Mustivar 78'), Espinoza, Feilhaber, Medranda (Nemeth 64'), Dwyer, Peterson
Goals: Dwyer (16'), Anibaba (91'), Nemeth (94')
Philadelphia Union: Mbolhi, Fabinho (Lee 79'), Vitoria, Edu, Gaddis, Wenger, Carroll, Lahoud, Ayuk (Sapong 71'), Le Toux, Aristeguieta
Goals: Peterson (OG - 3'), Aristeguieta (19')