McInerney helps Union stun Sporting

Chester, PA – The Philadelphia Union snapped its six-game winless streak in a big way on Saturday as Jack McInerney tallied a pair of goals in a 4-0 win over Sporting Kansas City at PPL Park.

McInerney was handed his second start of the season, and he rewarded the faith of coach John Hackworth, scoring in the opening minute and doubling his tally shortly before halftime.

The Union then scored twice in the final 10 minutes as Lionard Pajoy converted from the penalty spot and Antoine Hoppenot capped the scoring with his first MLS goal.

"We said no matter how the game goes, we need to find the way to win," McInerney said. "D.C. did it to us last week. The team played well overall and it was good for us and we need to carry this over to next weekend."

Sporting arrived in Philadelphia riding a four-game unbeaten streak, but fell behind after 60 seconds when Raymon Gaddis played a ball through the face of goal to the back post for Pajoy, who laid it off for McInerney to fire home from close range.

Teal Bunbury went close with a header for Sporting midway through the first half, but a free kick from Freddy Adu shortly before the break led to another Union goal as Carlos Valdes had his shot saved by goalkeeeper Jimmy Nielsen, only for McInerney to score on the rebound.

Bunbury squandered another chance in the 62nd and Graham Zusi forced a good diving save from goalkeeper Zac MacMath in the 75th to keep Philadelphia up two goals.

Hoppenot came on as a substitute and had a hand in both goals in the final 10 minutes as he first drew a foul on Sporting's Aurelien Collin, which allowed Pajoy to fire home the spot kick.

And he put his name on the scoresheet for the first time in MLS in the 87th minute by latching on to a long ball from Michael Farfan and chipping it over the head of Nielsen for a composed finish.

"Truth is, we've played better games than we did today," said Gaddis. "But that's soccer. We've played good soccer before, but the score line hasn't shown that. Today, we were able to get one early on, and that changed the way the game was to be played. When you play good soccer, you're not always going to get the win. At the moment, what we need are the three points. I think that we're on the right path so far."