Chester, PA (Sports Network) - Philadelphia dropped points at home Wednesday for the fifth time this season, but the Union's draw against defending Major League Soccer Cup champion Real Salt Lake could provide a needed spark for the remainder of the season.
Rookie Danny Mwanga scored his sixth goal of the season in the 1-1 draw at PPL Park, and the Union will try to build on result on Saturday when the Colorado Rapids visit the expansion team for the first time.
Philadelphia (4-10-4) has accumulated 12 of its 16 points at home this season, and needs results in its last seven home matches to have any chance of turning its season around.
"We played well," goalkeeper Chris Seitz told the Union's website, "and we can take that away from it and look forward to Saturday."
With just one victory in its last seven MLS matches, Philadelphia is just four points off the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 12 games to play.
Although a playoff spot is unlikely, if the Union can get Seitz - benched last weekend in favor of Brad Knighton - and the defense playing better, Mwanga and MLS All-Star Sebastien Le Toux are providing plenty of offense.
Le Toux leads the Union with nine goals, and Mwanga is already fulfilling the promise that came with being the No. 1 overall draft pick.
Union coach Peter Nowak has to decide whether to give Knighton another chance, as he was red carded in the first half of a 3-1 loss to FC Dallas last weekend and was suspended for Wednesday's game. Regardless, the Union need more steady play out of the back.
"The game on Saturday is going to be another fight," Nowak said.
Colorado (7-5-6) snapped an eight-match winless streak with a 1-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend thanks to an own goal from goalie Jon Busch.
Rapids coach Gary Smith wore a tie on the sideline for the first time all year in hopes of snapping the team's winless slide and said afterward it was just a "snap decision."
Smith should bring the tie to Pennsylvania, because the Rapids are holding the seventh of eight playoff spots. Colorado is fifth in the Western Conference, but also just three points behind third-place Dallas.
The Rapids snapped a 12-game winless run against the Earthquakes without Conor Casey and Jamie Smith, but both should be available this weekend. Both sat out the match with head injuries. Coach Smith could be without Colin Clark, after he injured his knee in the win over San Jose and is questionable.