Rate the U: Zlataned in Chester

Terrible weather didn’t stop the fans from still filling up Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday night, but adding insult to injury was the number of fans who were happy to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic lead the LA Galaxy to a 3-1 win over the home team.

Zlatan’s star power helped the Union draw their largest paid crowd in five years, but the 36-year-old showed he still has some magic left with an assist that set up the equalizer and the eventual game-winning goal.

The Philadelphia Union took the lead in the first half on CJ Sapong’s first goal since April, but the goal, like his overall performance, was anything but pretty. Sapong got a slight touch on the ball to redirect Borek Dockal’s pass, but the goal came after two earlier chances he had to put the home team in control.

Head coach Jim Curtin was rewarded for going back to Sapong in his starting XI, but his additional changes to the back line — starting Fabinho on the left and Ray Gaddis on the right — did little to stop the LA Galaxy attack. If not for the sensational play of Andre Blake, the Union likely would have been down a couple goals going into the break.

Fafa Picault was able to create a host of chances going the other way, but as bright as his attacking looked in small bursts, his attacks led to precious little by way of quantifiable results. Haris Medunjanin and Alejandro Bedoya were also involved going forward while rookie center back Mark McKenzie struggled on both sides of the field, missing wide on a free header and allowing too much space to Zlatan on his goal.

The subs weren’t able to change the tide, though Warren Creavalle did have a series of attacking moments after subbing on. David Accam was unable to repeat his recent performance in Chicago and Cory Burke was responsible for leaving Ciani wide open on his goal off a corner kick on one end of the field while air mailing a shot off a promising attack on the other.

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