Late Goal From Academy's Christian Hernandez Gives Union 1-0 Win in Friendly With Everton

by Joey Samuel on Jul 20, 2011 11:30 PM EDT in Game Day

Christian Hernandez, of Players Development Academy and the Union U-18s, still wears braces but his goal defeated an English Premier League team in Everton FC. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

After missing a number of quality chances against English Premier League team Everton FC on Wednesday night, the Philadelphia Union finally put one away in the 87th minute through U-18 midfielder Christian Hernandez to record a 1-0 victory.

Hernandez, who was recently named the U-17/18 Player of the Year of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, entered in the 71st minute and played well for his entire time in the match. That honor essentially recognized the young Mexican as the top youth player at his age level in the country, and he showed why against Everton.

The Players Development Academy midfielder was one of three high school-aged kids that were on the field when the Union scored their winning goal. Academy star Jimmy McLaughlin, who I interviewed here on the Brotherly Game recently, came into the game in the 78th minute and appeared to provide the spark needed to push for a winning goal. 16-year-old Homegrown signing Zach Pfeffer also participated, coming into the game in the 63rd minute. Pfeffer connected several impressive passes with his teammates and looked confident.

Despite facing many of Everton's top players such as Phil Neville, TIm Cahill, and Phil Jagielka, the Union were the better team for nearly all of the match, creating more chances and controlling more possession. In fact, it was Philadelphia who rested most of their starters; Danny Califf, Brian Carroll, Sebastien Le Toux, and Carlos Ruiz all sat out the entire match, while Juan Diego Gonzalez actually stepped onto the field at PPL for the first time in 2011.

The Union will now play another international friendly this Saturday when they take on Real Madrid at Lincoln Financial Field. They return to MLS action on Friday, July 29, when they host the Colorado Rapids at PPL Park.

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I didn't watch the game over here in the UK

But looking at the highlights it looked like a tight game that was always going to be decided by that extra bit of quality. It was a nice finish from Hernandez, who will have done his reputation no harm.
For Everton it was only their second friendly and although they have players of higher quality the Union’s match sharpness + the oppressive heat leveled things out a bit.
It is never nice to lose though, I’m hoping for a better performance at the weekend. Well done to the Union though, good luck for the rest of the season.

by tmallows on Jul 21, 2011 4:45 AM EDT reply actions

Great to see that the Union and MLS are getting exposure outside the US, which is one of the main goals when they schedule friendlies like this. It’s also a great measuring stick for the young team’s progress, especially their academy players who fans of the first team rarely see. And while people will surely credit the home team’s mideason form it’s worth bearing in mind this was a Union side missing its captain and four or five other regular starters — and Seattle, despite being perhaps the most in-form squad in the league right now, was not able to prevent a 0-7 blowout against their Premier League opponent last night. All in all, a very successful friendly, an entertaining match, and a result the young players should be proud of.

by sob chris on Jul 21, 2011 8:29 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

JDG

Possibly the funniest thing about the JDG#3 appearance- i don’t think he was ever introduced, did he really appear or was our eyes deceiving us?

by bluetooner on Jul 21, 2011 7:47 AM EDT reply actions

JDG, the 200 thousand dollar man

Me and my brother were counting each of his touches like we were the count from sesame street. One touch, ah ah ah. TWO! Two touches, ah ah ah.

by Fear the RUSH on Jul 21, 2011 8:32 AM EDT reply actions

Joey do you have access to any possession stats for the game?

I’m working on our review, and I know you feel the Union had more possession and to me it seemed about 50-50, but I can’t find any stats to confirm what the possession actually looked like

by Brian_Goodison on Jul 21, 2011 12:42 PM EDT reply actions

Unfortunately, no. I guess what I really meant to say was that the Union had more quality possession in the attacking third. Usually one can find a possession stat for all MLS games at the league website, and they even have had it for the World Football Challenge. But since this was just a token friendly it appears they didn’t publish anything.

Editor at The Brotherly Game. Madridista de corazón. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @joeysamuel

by Joey Samuel on Jul 21, 2011 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions