Past incarnations of the Philadelphia Union would have rolled over and died after conceding a goal just three minutes into the game.

Credit then, to this group, for fighting through a poor start, finding the equalizer, and hanging on for a deserved road point.

It's a third straight draw for the Union, who now sit at 4-3-3 and remain near the top of the Eastern Conference. No doubt it's a fair result, when you consider that the club was playing away from home just 72 hours after a wild game against the LA Galaxy. 

Even then, Jim Curtin didn't do a whole lot in terms of squad rotation. Only two players were swapped out for this game, though it's likely that Ilsinho would have played had he not picked up a late quad injury. In years past, Curtin has been averse to lineup changes on a short turnaround, but there's certainly more depth on the squad this year. That said, it was interesting to see Roland Alberg begin the game on the bench.

It was a torrid start for Montreal, but Philly stabilized and slowed things down. There was another rough patch about 25 minutes later, but a couple of Andre Blake saves preserved the 1-1 scoreline going into halftime. Once the game hit the 75 minute mark, the Union felt comfortable enough to bring on a defensive sub and ride out the result. 

Didier Drogba, he scores when he's wide open

The Union will be disappointed when they watch the replay of Didier Drogba's goal.

You can see it here:

There's a lot going on here, so let's break it down.

1. There's only 2:08 on the game clock. Pointless, right? Not really. Mentally, it's hard to get "into" the game until five to ten minutes have passed. There's a lot of adrenaline flowing and you're trying to get your bearings. 

2. It's not necessarily zonal marking, but it does look like Sebastien Le Toux is floating at the near post. The Union generally avoid block/zonal marking, and they tend to man-mark 1v1 with two guys on the posts (Nogueira and Gaddis in this case). 

3. Richie Marquez looks to be on Drogba, with Keegan Rosenberry marking Harry Shipp. There's a two-man screen, and Marquez tries to duck underneath, with Drogba pulling out to the top of the box instead. 

4. Nacho Piatti is unmarked above that clustered 4v4.

5. Tranquillo Barnetta is standing alone at the edge of the eighteen.

6. Warren Creavalle is 2-3 yards off his mark, Victor Cabrera.

7. C.J. Sapong is marking Dominic Oruro.

Sapong's clearance is poor, but Marquez is nowhere near Drogba, and Barnetta has already taken himself out of the play. Drogba collects and fires a bullet over Nogueira's head. 

If the corner is defended and pops out further up the field, Barnetta can try to spring a counter, but he's not helping the scrum by leaving four teammates to account for five guys about 10 yards to his left. 

As for Marquez, he's been picked a couple of times this year in similar situations, so I wonder if he tried to duck the screen early to avoid having that happen again. In this case, Drogba peeled off instead of continuing towards the six, which left Marquez at least 5-6 yards away from his original mark.

Training ground routines

This play didn't mean anything in the grand scheme of the game, but it's a training ground routine that they've tried two different times this season. 

Check out the replay in slow motion -

It's a simple peel that brings Chris Pontius across the top of the box. I'm 99% percent sure the design is for him to hit that first-time, but Barnetta's ball is behind, so he takes a touch and the play sort of falls apart.

They tried this earlier in the year, I want to say against Columbus, and the same thing happened with an inaccurate service. 

Grades: 

Starting XI: Blake, Gaddis, Marquez, Yaro, Rosenberry; Creavalle, Nogueira; Le Toux, Barnetta, Pontius; Sapong

C.J. Sapong: B

Yeah, Sapong's clearance on the Drogba goal was poor, but he's not to blame for leaving him wide open. 

C.J.'s goal was a simple tap-in, but he reads the play very well with an initial near-post run, which Victor Cabrera ignores when he pulls wide to address Le Toux instead. 

Sebastien Le Toux: B+

Brilliant ball across the goalmouth for his assist. The display of composure on the equalizer was excellent.

Watch the replay and you'll see that he actually begins the sequence by winning an aerial duel against Max Tissot. When Tissot slips, he takes himself out of the play, and Le Toux surges into open space at the far post.

Le Toux gets bonus points for helping out defensively against Patti. 

Tranquillo Barnetta: B

On the goal, he takes advantage of a Laurent Ciman miscue and carries the ball horizontally to allow Chris Pontius to run the left flank. The ball into the channel is played into a tight area and Pontius gets off the secondary assist. 

Barnetta had another solid day and looks healthy enough out there after beginning the season with injury concerns. 

Chris Pontius: B-

Again, it felt like the ball didn't come his way in the first 25 minutes. Then, you look up and see him charging down the left side to earn a secondary assist on the goal. 

Vince Nogueira: B+

Another smart, box-to-box game for Nogueira. I counted at least two interceptions in the defensive third, with another block at the top of the 18. 

Offensively, that third run feels a little less risky with the more athletic Warren Creavalle playing the 6, as opposed to Brian Carroll. 

Warren Creavalle: B

As a pair, Creavalle and Nogueira did a nice job to clog up the middle and also helped the Union settle down after that rough start. 

It's not always smooth with Creavalle, but do you recall any notable contributions from Harry Shipp or Patrice Bernier? 

Ray Gaddis: B

He made two great forward runs in the first half, one to pull a defender off of Pontius and one as a step/interception in the opposing half of the field. 

Defensively, he was his typically solid self, and did a good job against Dominic Oduro on the left flank. 

Richie Marquez: C+

He'll definitely be annoyed when he sees the film of the Drogba goal. 

After suffering an apparent hip pointer in the first half, he did really well on a lot of individual challenges in the second half, especially the two consecutive times where he stuffed Oduro in open space. 

Give Marquez a lot of credit for a solid second 45 after enduring some iffy moments in the first half. 

Josh Yaro: B+

He got worked about 5 minutes in when a Piatti cut left him stumbling backwards about 18 yards out. It could have been 2-0 if the ensuing shot hadn't struck the left post.

From that point on, however, Yaro was solid, winning individual battles, picking up the correct assignments, and helping his teammates bracket Piatti and Drogba. His tackle in the 52nd minute prevented a goal. 

Keegan Rosenberry: A- 

Coming into the game, I felt like this was Rosenberry's biggest defensive test since the FC Dallas game and his matchup against Fabian Castillo. 

He had two back-to-back events involving Piatti about seven minutes in. In the first one, he sticks out a leg to just barely break up a clever through ball. Shortly after, the Union blow their shape and he and Yaro get stuck in a 2v2 counterattack. Rosenberry does well enough to funnel Piatti onto his left foot for a point-blank Andre Blake save. 

A bit later, there's a Drogba cross that comes in, and while the Union don't deal with it convincingly, Le Toux is back to help, tells Rosenberry to switch markers, and Piatti shanks a free header wide. 

Before the half, there's another play where he stops Piatti 1v1, though Drogba picks up the play and gets a low cross into the box that Marquez is able to meet. 

It's a broken record at this point, but here's the synopsis on Rosenberry: His offensive intuition is already there, and his defensive game continues to improve. 

Andre Blake: A-

After a couple of quiet games, Blake was back to being his all-star caliber self. 

Substitutes: 

66' Fabian Herbers: B-

He almost, almost got that first MLS goal.  

74' Brian Carroll: B

A defensive sub, Carroll's insertion pushed Creavalle into the #8 spot and gave the Union an extra bit of midfield protection to see out the game. 

84' Roland Alberg:  N/A

I'd like to see Alberg get more minutes, but who comes off the field?  

Referee: Drew Fisher: B

He was fine. Fisher probably let Marquez get away with a yellow card for that early challenge on Oduro. There was a late penalty shout involving the same two players, but I don't think any MLS ref is calling that one.

Montreal weather: F-

It feels like it always rains when the Union play up there. 

Philadelphia weather: F-

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