PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The first of two Philadelphia teams fighting for a major professional sports championship this weekend took the pitch in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon, and produced a second-half and extra-time comeback for the ages that, sadly for the Philadelphia Union, wasn’t enough.
After a tying goal in the 85th minute of regulation and a lead exchange in injury time of a second extra-time period that ended 130 minutes of soccer at 3-3, LAFC — with the goalkeeping of La Salle alumnus John McCarthy — shut out the Union 3-0 in a penalty-kick shootout and won the MLS Cup in a match that MLS Commissioner Don Garber called the league's best-ever game.
A full Banc of America stadium, including a blue-and-gold-clad representation by hundreds of members of the Union superfans group Sons of Ben, saw a scoreless match in the first 26 minutes with the Union controlling the ball for the majority of the action, but neither team producing a shot on goal.
LAFC’s Kellyn Acosta launched a free kick off the head of Jack McGlynn that hit the left-back corner of the goal, giving the home team a 1-0 lead.
The Western Conference champs kept the attack on in the latter part of the first half, missing numerous opportunities to expand the lead.
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Injuries marred the first ten minutes of a chippy second half, including potential head and shoulder issues to Olivier Mbaizo in the 54th minute.
Five minutes later, Dániel Gazdag got the Sons of Ben contingent near the south end zone on its feet by smashing a goal home to tie the match at 1-1.
Gazdag scored twice in the MLS Eastern Conference Final victory over NYCFC last Sunday night that propelled the Union to the MLS Cup.
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LAFC held control and sent numerous offensive waves at the Union goal, keeping goalkeeper Andre Blake busy. The Union delivered more set pieces and offensive opportunities between the 70th and 80th minutes but failed to break through for the lead goal.
That failure proved costly in the 83rd minute. A corner kick set up a header for Jesús Murillo, who knocked it in to give LAFC the lead.
Two minutes later, Jack Elliott returned the favor with a scoring header on the other end for the Union, who tied the match 2-2 and sent the Sons of Ben representatives in L.A. and Union fans back home into a frenzy.
After a furious injury time sequence to end regulation play, the match went an extra 30 minutes of extra time.
The Union appeared to play at a faster pace in the first extra time period, though LAFC had plenty of chances to score.
Julián Carranza had a potential championship-winning goal for Philadelphia go off his head from near point-blank range in the 104th minute, but it went too high and over the crossbar.
LAFC controlled the early going in the second extra-time period, but the Union’s Cory Burke sprinted downfield for a counterattack which Maxime Crépeau stopped with a powerful collision outside the box in the 110th minute.
Both Burke and Crépeau were injured, with Crépeau receiving a red card while being treated, then carted off the field. Backup John McCarthy, a four-year starter for La Salle University and former Philadelphia Union player, entered the match to replace Crépeau.
Referees granted nine minutes of injury time after the 120th minute. And in the 124th minute, Elliott produced extra-time magic.
His second goal, spawned by constant pressure creating a rebound opportunity far away from McCarthy’s sprawled body on the goal line, gave Philadelphia its first lead of the match.
But international star Gareth Bale, a stalwart in the past with Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League and Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, headed a goal in during the 128th minute to tie the match at 3-3.
Each team had five opportunities. LAFC scored on their second and third tries, while the Union were stoned twice by McCarthy — and an errant shot over the bar on their first opportunity.
With one LAFC conversion or one Union miss clinching a title, Ilie Sánchez got the job done with a shot to the right of the goal, beating Blake and winning a 3-0 shootout.