Match Recap: Philadelphia headed to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final after beating Dallas in PKs

 

After a few years of unsuccessful attempts in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament, Philadelphia has finally advanced to the final, which will be played on home soil. After beating  Harrisburg City Islanders, the New York Cosmos, New England Revolution and finally, FC Dallas, Philadelphia will play the winner of Seattle Sounders FC – Chicago Fire on September 16th at 7:30pm at PPL Park.

The First Half:

Philadelphia went with their traditional formation but new faces were included.  Amobi Okugo, who was benched ahead of the match Saturday got the start and Andrew Wenger started ahead of Danny Cruz. Jim Curtin is working hard to preserve his players and utilize his bench with one more game left to complete a three game week. FC Dallas has been hot in MLS with an eight game unbeaten streak and the return of Fabian Castillo to the lineup.

Scoreless in the first half, Philadelphia was given many chances but could not capitalize. The Union’s Conor Casey looked extremely sluggish on the offensive end with his shots going way over the bar and his passes were inaccurate. Sebastian Le Toux, coming off a fantastic showing on Saturday was not as involved in the play first half.

FC Dallas was gifted with only one corner the first half, but could not capitalize. The back four did a great job of containing and keeping Dallas’ offense from linking up and creating chances.

Second Half:

FC Dallas used their remaining two subs going into the second half. This left a challenge for the remaining 45+ for the Dallas side. The Union’s Amobi Okugo, a rare guest on the Union’s scoring sheet scored his first goal  in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with an assist from the current tournament scoring leader in the modern era, Sebastian Le Toux.

While it seemed as if Philadelphia would be headed to the final,  Fabian Castillo scored after passing MacMath, who was extremely off his line, to level the game in the 81st minute.  If you are a devout follower of the US Open Cup, you know that there is never a dull game…..

Extra Time:

With the substitution of Danny Cruz in for Andrew Wenger, Philadelphia looked to end the game early in extra time.  The first half of extra time was full of chances from both sides,  most noticeably FC Dallas. The Philadelphia back line seemed to fall asleep in the first half of extra time but pulled out a scoreless over time to advance into penalty kicks.

Penalty Kicks:

 

 

Philadelphia Union (4-4-2)

Zac  MacMath; Sheanon Williams, Maurice Edu (c), Ethan White, Raymon Gaddis; Michael Lahoud, Amobi Okugo, Vincent Nogueira, Sebastian Le Toux (Cristian Maidana 90+); Andrew Wenger (Danny Cruz 89′)  Conor Casey (Brian Brown 63′)

 

FC Dallas (4-2-3-1)

Raul Fernandez, Michael, Walker Zimmerman (Je-Vaughn Watson 37′), Matt Hedges (c), Zach Loyd (Stephen Keel 45′), Adam Moffat, Victor Ulloa, Mauro Diaz (Ryan Hollingshead 45′), Fabian Castillo, Tesho Akindele, Blas Perez

 

Scoring Summary:

Philadelphia Union: Amobi Okugo (Le Toux) 47′

FC Dallas: Fabian Castillo (Blas Perez) 81′

 

Disciplinary:

Philadelphia  Union: Ethan White (yellow) 75′

Philadelphia Union: Michael Lahoud (yellow) 102′

Philadelphia Union: Danny Cruz (yellow) 114′

 

Picture courtesy of the Philadelphia Union