Philadelphia Union overcome Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico

MLS expansion franchise Philadelphia Union defeated Mexican second division side Universidad de Guadalajara 1-0 in a pre-season match on Tuesday.

Brazilian midfielder Fred scored the only goal of the game, in the 65th minute, pleasing coach Peter Nowak.

It was a very hard match to play, filled with fouls and breaks,” said Nowak.

“But it was a good result at the end, and we seem to have improved our defensive and offensive play. We should have scored more goals though, not just the one scored by Fred. The goal was a very good sequence from the whole team, and a very good finish by Fred. It was good to finish this game with a positive result.

“But as always, now we have to go back to work and then head to Tampa to finish shaping our team for the MLS season.”

Goalscorer Fred admitted the match was very important for the players to form cohesion on the pitch and get used to Nowak’s game style.

As every game we’ve played so far has been, today’s game was good preparation for us in order to get used to each other on the field and achieve the goals set by the Technical Staff,” added Fred. “Despite the fact that it was a difficult game, we were able to set some guidelines and create the system of play demanded by Manager Nowak.”