The Philadelphia Union took advantage of an early error from Columbus Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room to score the only goal of a 1-0 victory on Saturday night at Subaru Park.
Two minutes in, the typically dependable Room fumbled Jose Andres Martinez's early cross across his line for an own goal. His attempt to catch the service actually redirected it goal-bound, when it otherwise might have sailed wide of the far post for a goal kick.
That was all the red-hot Union required to record a fifth consecutive victory and fourth straight clean sheet to keep their place atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Andre Blake made three saves in the victory. On his best, a leaping denial of Lucas Zelarayan's free kick just before halftime, he also absorbed a punishing collision between his left shoulder and the right post, but remained in the game.
Room made up for his early error in defeat with five stops total and three one-on-one denials, but enough damage was done to inflict the Crew's second consecutive 1-0 loss. He twice thwarted Daniel Gazdag from close range to halt the Hungarian's goal-scoring streak at four games.
Goals
- 2' - PHI - Eloy Room (OG) | WATCH
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: Philly's win could have been bittersweet if it had come with a game-ending injury for Blake. That looked like a possibility shortly after his save of Zelarayan and the resulting collision, which kept him down on the field for several minutes. But the 2020 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year fought off any soreness to make it into halftime and appeared unencumbered by the joint in the second 45 minutes.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: It's a shame Room's night will be remembered for his early fumble, because the Curacao international was otherwise exceptional. He kept any Philadelphia player from registering a goal to their name despite facing 1.92 expected goals' (xG) worth of chances. Unfortunately, the gaffe wound up deciding the result.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Mikael Uhre. Philadelphia's prized Danish striker is still searching out his first goal, but his class was obvious as a scoring threat and a traffic cop for the Union attack. His 0.04 xG belied the danger of the chance he forced Room to save, and he led Philly with 0.35 expected assists in his first MLS start.
Up Next
- PHI: Saturday, April 16 at Toronto FC | 7:30 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US and DAZN in Canada)
- CLB: Saturday, April 16 vs. Orlando City SC | 7:30 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US and DAZN in Canada)
