Twenty-five minutes into the New England Revolution's match against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night it has already become clear which team is the stronger and most comfortable. The Union have put tremendous pressure on the Revolution back line, and thought he scores remain locked at 0-0, the Union have had the majority of the chances and are unlucky not to be leading.
The best chance of the half probably came in the 11th minute, when a ball out of midfield intended for Keon Daniel was instead dummied to Jack McInerney, who found himself in alone on goal. McInerney dribbled in but pulled his shot wide when he really should have at least tested Bobby Shuttleworth.
The 15th minute also saw a zany end-to-end sequence where McInerney, who really proved a nuisance throughout the opening minutes, nearly beat Shuttleworth to the ball in the box. It was cleared, and then Jerry Bengtson attacked right at the other end, but was unable to get a shot off before the ball was cleared, and again there was an open attack on the other end as Daniel danced along the byline and crossed, but it was finally smothered by Shuttleworth. Jay Heaps was up in arms at the play, as several players from both sides were crumpled on the ground for most of the sequence.
Alec Purdie appears to be having difficulty adjusting to the speed of the game, while Ryan Guy has performed reasonably well at right back, though his discomfort at the position shows. Jerry Bengtson has made himself an annoyance by chasing down every possession in the Union defense, but as yet nothing has come of it.