Union get first road win

Because really, after yesterday afternoon, a perfect game from Roy Halladay and an 11-goal Stanley Cup Finals opener for the Flyers just weren't enough...

Danny Mwanga scored in the 93rd minute of a wild match in Houston to give the Union a 3-2 win over the Dynamo. It was Philadelphia's first road win of the season, and in club history.

There are video highlights below, as well as a quote sheet courtesy of the Dyanmo.

I've also added video highlights of the U.S.' win over Turkey to my blog post from that game.

Have a great weekend. I am going to attempt to take a little time off, believe it or not. I hope to get Take Two from the Union-Dynamo game up on Tuesday morning, then Rank and File on Wednesday. On Thursday, I'm leaving for Chicago, and I'll be at Toyota Park to bring you live coverage of the Union's game against the Fire.

It just doesn't end, does it?

Peter Nowak

On the game

I think for the team, it means the work paid off. It was a tough environment we played in, and a victory like that over the Houston Dynamo is very good because it's very difficult to play here. We come back to score a goal in injury time, and it's very special. I feel like this is a work in progress. This is still a very young group who wants to work and win the games, and for me it's a work in progress. We are eight weeks in the season, and we have 22 games in front of us.

On scoring late

We scored in the 94th minute against Dallas. We play disciplined, we play efficient, we play effective, and that is the three most important factors in this game. I think we executed all three things to perfection.


Chris Seitz

On the game

I think in the first half, we came out and did what we wanted to do. We kept possession of the ball, we created chances, and we went into the half up 1-0. In the second half, we gave up two free kicks in two dangerous areas. Houston is always dangerous at free kicks. That's their bread and butter, and they got two good goals off it.


Danny Mwanga

On the game

We came out pretty hard, and we knew that Houston was a very good team, especially at home. We knew it would be a hard game. So we came out to try and play hard and help each other and not give up till the referee blew the whistle. We all stick together and stayed focus for the whole game, and I'm very happy we came away with a win.

On the game-winning goal

It was a great feeling. I came in last game and was able to score a goal, and that was definitely a great effort. As a forward, you know you need to bring something to the table to help your team, and I was able to score that goal and help my teammates, and I am very excited for it.


Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear

On the game

It's disappointing. It's a terrible way to end the game. To have a lead in the second half and play the way we did in the second half is a huge letdown for us. We scored two great goals. I'm not pleased about having to make two defensive substitutions when we have some great firepower on the bench that we could not go to. I give Philadelphia credit. They came in, worked hard, and gave us problems.

On the injury substitutions

It's one of those things where you are thinking about substitutions as the game goes on because we play Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, and I hopefully had a plan in place, and that wasn't going to happen because those two subs came along. Brian's inclusion into the team gave us life and energy, but we just looked too spaced, too far apart and that's the sign of an inconsistent team. When you are confident, everyone is happy and talking, and when things aren't going your way there are a lot of quiet voices out there.

On his team's performance

We had a couple decent looks. I'm not pleased though. We were inconsistent again. I let the guys know, I wasn't happy with them at halftime. All in all, the guys should be disappointed, I think we all are.

On Philadelphia

If the game against Dallas gave any indication of the way they are playing, they don't care about their record, they are here to play and try and win. That is why you have to give them credit. They gave us problems by winning a lot of first balls and winning a lot of second balls and never giving up. And that is the one thing we said before the game, this team is fighting for everything. I said if we don't come out and meet them head on, we would have trouble and we were asking for it.

It's hard to talk about inconsistency because I think if you look at it, you can point at certain things, we aren't doing this correctly and then we are doing this correctly. I can define inconsistency for you: One game the forwards are holding the ball well and the next game the forwards are not holding the ball well. The outside backs are passing the ball well one game and not passing the ball well the next game. We are dangerous on set pieces one game and not the next.

What we spoke about is that the messages aren't inconsistent, but the performances are. And that's why I'm angry with the way we played, because you want to put your finger on it and find out the answer, and the answer is the next game, and then we go backwards to the question.


Dynamo midfielder Lovel Palmer

On the game

The coaching staff went through their team, player by player, to see what they do, so we knew what they were going to come do, and they did it, but we just were not up to the task. They did exactly what the coaching staff said, but we just didn't concentrate. We let down the coaches.
On facing opponents' best efforts

Every game for the Dynamo is tough, because the Dynamo are one of the best teams in the league with the best players, and everyone plays hard to beat us, even when they are not playing well against other teams.


Dynamo forward Brian Ching

On the game

They were a better team over the course of the game. Tonight Dom said that was the case. It's frustrating. You look at the history of this club over the last four years, and you could probably say we are one of the best teams over those four years. This year being 5-5, a lot of teams in front of us would probably take that, but with the history we've had, we're all embarrassed here. To lose three games at home just this year when over the past two years I think we've lost two games in total at home, it shows I'm just frustrated. I shake my head at it.

The energy level isn't good enough. They haven't been good enough. I think that everyone of us as players has to look at themselves. I raise my hand for this game, because I think I should have done more in the second half to lift our team. I should have held the ball more. It's something that I think we all are going to have look into ourselves and be better and demand more. Our fans deserve better. The club history deserves better.

When you suit up as a Dynamo player, you expect to play for one of the best teams in the league. At this point in the season, it's not the case. It's a job for every single one of us as players to come out and stand up and be men. From this point in the season, move forward and put this behind us and step up.

On scoring seven minutes after entering the game

I was happy to get the ball in the net, but if you look at the scheme of things, we lost, and that's the most important stat to me. It's all about wins here and the trophy at the end of the year, and at this point in the season, we're looking like a team that won't be competing for that trophy. It's up to us to turn things around.