Union vs. Dynamo

October 30th at 5 PM, it's 45 degrees out and I wouldn't want to be anywhere but Chester, PA to see the Union's first ever playoff game. The Union have come a long way since their inagural season last year, when they finished in the bottom three of the league, now they're in the top three in the east. There was an electricity through out the stadium moments before the first kick, but Houston took some of that away early in the game. Houston took an early lead from a header by Andre Hainault in the 5th minute from around eight yards out, set up by Brad Davis' indirect kick. But Philadelphia did not take long to strike back. Two minutes later Sebastian Le Toux scored the equalizer from a beautiful cross by Michael Farfan straight to the left foot of the French man. But Houston's offense was persistent and eventually took the lead in the 30th minute with a through ball from Brian Ching to Calen Carr who slipped past the defense and took a shot that passed an advancing Mondragon. Carr scored the final goal of the match but the intensity was far from over. Houston came out more aggressive than the Union, and controlled the ball in the first half, the second half was a different story. Peter Nowak put changed his lineup to be more offensive by putting Miglioranzi up at midfield and then eventually subbing him out for Jack McInerney. The Union got the crowd back into the game by staying on the attack. Sebatian Le Toux nearly tied the game with a free kick in the 54th minute just outside the box, but was eventually kicked out after a scrum. But on video replay there is a blatant hand ball on Houston, Le Toux said after the game that it was an obvious hand ball and should have been a penalty shot. The rest of the match went a lot like Le Toux's free kick, the Union coming very close to tying the game but just missing the net, and the referee's making more than questionable calls. I do have to give some credit to Houston's defense, who the Union couldn't place many balls past their tall defenders, and their Keeper who had to make some miraculous saves. It's a lame excuse to blame the referee's not making calls for a loss, but the referee's had a direct impact on Sunday's game. The problem was that they were so inconsistent, someone who falls down in a contest for the ball gets a whistle and a possible card, while there were muggings in the box which went uncalled. Another thing that the referee's failed to call was a dive. Late in the game there was a collision and a Houston player goes down. He stays down for a while and the referee blows the whistle to get him off the field, which took around 30-50 seconds. Once the player was on the sideline, he is up and ready to get back in the game. This is one of the main reasons why Americans are resistant to watching soccer, the MLS should find a way to discipline players who fake injuries to waste time. The NFL fined a player a substantial amount of money in the beginning of the season for faking an injury to stop the clock, the MLS and FIFA should create a policy to stop these "floppers." It would definitely get more American fans, and more fans world wide. But at the end of the day the Union are down one goal in this aggregate playoff and need to win by two goals in Houston on Thursday. In order for the Union to advance to the next round is simple, score! The defense for the Union has been solid all season, for the most part, if they keep the momentum and lineup they had in the second half of Sunday's game then they've got a good shot at winning. The Union usually come alive late in the game, and especially when they are fighting from behind. They just need to treat the next 90 minutes like the last 30 minutes of a regular season game.