CHESTER, Pa. – Trailing by two goals in the second half and with their home crowd willing them on, the Philadelphia Union sliced Columbus Crew SC’s lead in half and had a ball hit the crossbar on a potential equalizer.
But, in the end, it turned out to be nothing more than a tease – a familiar theme for a team that’s earned two huge road wins in the past month only to follow both of those up with gut-wrenching losses at home.
And if the 1-0 home defeat to the New England Revolution two weeks ago didn’t already doom the Union’s playoff hopes, Saturday’s failed comeback bid and 2-1 loss to Crew SC at PPL Park may have been one of the final nails in the coffin.
“We haven’t been able to put two games together,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said. “It’s been difficult. It’s a challenge. You know, we’ve had some success on the road in recent games. In this league, though, the second you think you’re good or at least improving, it comes back to bite you."
Curtin added that Philly’s recent wins in Montreal and San Jose were spurred by “eight, nine guys” having great performances. Needing the same kind of production against Crew SC, though, the coach admitted that “a lot of guys had a big dropoff.”
“We were beat by a better team tonight,” Curtin said. “Columbus were very good. They pushed the tempo and we didn’t have a lot of answers. They deserved three points.”
Columbus certainly looked much better in the first half as they dominated the possession battle and jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of two Kei Kamara goals.
But the Union did make adjustments and improve in the second half -- just not enough to avoid dropping to 0-3-1 in their last four league home matches.
“We dug ourselves too deep of a hole early,” Union captain Brian Carroll said. “They played great in the first half and we didn’t do enough in the first half. And then the second half, it was too little, too late.”
At this point, it’s likely “too little, too late” for the Union to sneak into the playoffs, considering all of the games Montreal has in hand in the race for the sixth and final spot in the East.
But the Union still have a huge game coming up on September 30 as they host Sporting Kansas City in the US Open Cup final. And whether or not they solve their consistency problems by then may determine if they can capture the franchise’s first-ever trophy.
“It’s just mindset and willpower,” said C.J. Sapong, who scored his team-leading eighth goal in the second half to try to spur Saturday’s comeback. “That’s something that I think that me and every player on the team can get better at. We’ve shown that when we believe we can beat any team. It’s just a matter of maintaining that belief and willing ourselves to win.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
