The Philadelphia Union hosted an international friendly match on Wednesday night at PPL Park against German club Schalke 04 (who recently qualified for the UEFA Champions League).
The Union were the clear underdogs coming into the game but that is something they’ve become accustomed to when international competition. They’ve also become quite accustomed to winning (with 1-0 victories over Celtic, Everton and Chivas Guadalajara).
The scoring drought didn’t last long on this rainy evening as Lionard Pajoy put the Union ahead 1-0 in the 21st minute, heading in a free kick off the foot of Keon Daniel past GK Lars Unnerstall.
It looked as though Philadelphia would take their lead into half time but in the 41st minute Schalke’s Sergia Escudero found the back of the net and tied things up at 1-1.
In the second half, with a steady rain falling, the score remained knotted at 1-1. With only two minutes left in regulation, Chandler Hoffman, the Union’s 2012 first-round draft pick, took a pass from Ray Gaddis and deposited it past a diving Unnerstall to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.
Philadelphia went on the win the game 2-1 to improve their record against international competition at PPL Park to 4-0.
[photo credits: Christian Hafer]
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