October 01, 2015
The Philadelphia Union had their second consecutive chance to capture the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night. Both times, they hosted the final match at PPL Park in Chester. And just like last year, the Union fell short after the game couldn’t get decided in regulation.
The two teams were still deadlocked at 1-1 after 120 minutes of soccer, and Sporting Kansas City defeated the Union in penalty kicks by a score of 7-6 to win the Open Cup. For a team well out of the playoff race, this was all the Union had left to play for. Union head coach Jim Curtin said he wanted to throw up during the postgame press conference.
The story of the shootout was Curtin’s decision to switch goalkeepers. Starter Andre Blake had played the entire match and made five saves, but Curtin had saved his last substitution for a potential shootout. La Salle alum John McCarthy, who had previously won two shootouts in the competition, was subbed on just before the end of extra time. He only managed to stop one of the eight shots that came his way in the shootout.
During the game, there was also a little bit of controversy. Check out the video below. Blake appears to have possession of the ball, and Sporting KC’s Chance Myers recklessly kicks him in the head:
GK has the ball. Gets a flying cleat to the head. How is this not a red card? How is it not a yellow? #USOCFinal pic.twitter.com/YWljkHg3kj
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) October 1, 2015
Apparently, Myers didn’t even receive a yellow card on that play. I don’t pretend to be a soccer expert, but that seems pretty hard to believe. Oh, well:
If you went back 125 years and bet against Philadelphia in every big sporting event you'd be richer than Bill Gates.
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) October 1, 2015
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann