Fred scores in 79th as Union open new stadium with 3-1 win over Sounders

Union open new park with 3-1 win over Sounders

CHESTER, Pa. — The Philadelphia Union opened their new stadium in style.

Fred scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute to help the Philadelphia Union open their new stadium with a 3-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.

Sebastien Le Toux, who assisted on the Brazilian’s goal, scored on a penalty in the 55th for his team-leading sixth goal. Seattle’s Tyrone Marshall took down Alejandro Moreno in the box.

“It’s good to be home,” Union manager Peter Nowak said. “This is our place to play and it was fantastic with the fans supporting the team.”

Five minutes later, the Sounders were also awarded a penalty, but Pat Noonan’s shot was saved by Chris Seitz.

“I watch a lot of tape of players’ tendencies, and I think it helped,” Seitz said. “I guessed right, and the save kept the crowd into it. We took back the momentum from there and got a huge win.”

Rookie Danny Mwanga added a goal in the 85th minute to seal the win at $122 million PPL Park, where some of the crowd of 18,755 arrived four hours before the game.

Philadelphia plays 13 of its next 20 games at the new stadium.

The Philadelphia suburb has been operating under a state of emergency after rash of shootings killed four people in eight days.

The city of Chester has had 11 homicides this year, compared with seven in the same period last year. In recent years, the murder rate has averaged about 20 per year.

At halftime, Union President Tom Veit said the circumstances in Chester didn’t hinder the gameday experience.

Veit noted that 400 of 600 game-day employees are current Chester residents.

“I’ve talked to a large number of fans, and I haven’t heard one complaint,” Veit said.