Union make most of home-field advantage

The day began with chants aplenty from the fans. The players made sure they continued long into the night.

The Union baptized PPL Park before a sellout crowd (18,755) with a 3-1 victory over Seattle on goals by Sebastien Le Toux, Fred and Danny Mwanga.

“This is a very special group,” said Union manager Peter Nowak. “It’s a work in process and we’re trying to do a better job each and every day.”

Le Toux, who had three chances in the first 45 minutes stymied by Sounders keeper Kasey Keller, equalized from the penalty spot in the 55th minute thanks to a penalty drawn by Alejandro Moreno.

The Sounders (4-7-3) had a chance to take the lead with a penalty on the hour mark after Cristian Arrieta took down Freddy Montero in the box, but Union goalkeeper Chris Seitz got the better of Pat Noonan.

“I try to look at the tendencies of players throughout the game and make the best guess I can,” said Seitz.

“There’s also a bit of luck in there. It was big because we had just tied it up and it gave us a little momentum going forward.”

Following the save, they had consecutive shots on goal before Fred hammered home a cross from Le Toux in the 79th minute. Mwanga, the Union’s late-game specialist, put the cherry on top in the 84th minute when a beautiful feed from Le Toux put him one-on-one with Keller. The No. 1 pick missed the initial effort, but tapped home the rebound.

With the win, the Union (3-7-1) is even on points with DC United for seventh in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand.