Revolution Vs. Union Final: McInerney's Goal Holds Up As Philadelphia Wins 1-0

The New England Revolution went to PPL Park with nothing but pride on the line to face the Philadelphia Union, a team they've never beaten. Unfortunately, pride wasn't nearly enough as the Revs fell victim to Jack McInerney for the second time this season, losing 1-0.

Injuries forced Jay Heaps into an inexperienced, hodge-podge selection at the outset of the match, and it showed early on as winger Alec Purdie struggled in his first MLS start. Several promising Union attacks early on came down the right side as the Farfan brothers and several others shredded down that flank.

Despite that, the best chances of the match that didn't result in a goal came from the Revolution. Purdie thought too much in the 22nd minute when he took a feed from Kevin Alston in the box, and instead of taking a shot first-time, he dwelt on the ball and had it nicked away to be cleared by the defense.

Later in that half, Jerry Bengtson was one-on-one with Zac MacMath, rounding him on the left and confronting an open net. The Honduran forward, who has scored so much for his country recently, did the unthinkable and clanged his shot off the post with more goal to aim at than anything else.

Purdie again had a good chance in the 42nd minute when a long ball over the top put him in behind the defense. His first touch to clear his defender was brilliant; his second was a poor, dribbling shot that MacMath gathered easily.

A.J. Soares was forced to leave the match in the second half with an unspecified injury, and he was replaced by Fernando Cardenas. Notably, the move forced Ryan Guy to move from right-back to center-back, his sixth position of the season. Cardenas nearly took advantage of his time on the pitch, but when he found himself one-on-one with MacMath in the 70th minute, he danced and jinked to no avail, wasting a brilliant chance to put the ball in the net.

In the 73rd minute, a Cardenas foul set up Keon Daniel for a free kick on the right. His delivery to the far post was fantastic, and found McInerney virtually unmarked, and the U.S. youth international made no mistake from point-blank, heading home to give the home side the lead.

The match thereafter got chippy and devolved into a kick-and-run game that benefited no one. Benny Feilhaber was shown two yellow cards in roughly two minutes, receiving his marching orders in the 88th minute after taking down Antoine Hoppenot off the ball.

The Revolution have a long break ahead of them, and they won't return to action until the 20th, when they play their last home match of the season against Chicago.