Sapong does the trick as Union snap skid

Washington (AFP) – C.J. Sapong’s hat trick lifted the Philadelphia Union to a 3-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls, snapping the Union’s 15-match Major League Soccer winless streak.

The Union’s first victory of this season insured the Red Bulls’ own away losing streak continued — now stretching to five matches.

Sapong scored in the 74th, 81st and 85th minutes to take his season goal total to seven and give Philadelphia a first regular-season win since a 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City last August.

He scored his first goal when his shot deflected off the leg of a Red Bulls defender.

Sapong headed in his second goal from Chris Pontius and Fabian Herbers and capped off the outburst when he converted a penalty after Red Bulls defender Damien Perrinelle was called for hand ball in the box.

Elsewhere, teenager Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla was the hero for Montreal as the Impact notched their first away win of the season with a 1-0 victory over DC United in Washington.

Tabla, 18, put Montreal ahead in the 13th minute, taking a pass from Adrian Arregui and eluding Jared Jeffrey and Luciano Acosta to find some room.

He darted toward the penalty arc and fired a low shot that beat DC keeper Travis Worra inside the left corner.

It was Tabla’s second professional goal in his fourth MLS start since inking a contract with the club in October.

“I thought he was going to slip [a pass to] one of us,” Impact forward Dominic Oduro said. “But he saw that ambition and he took it.”

Tabla said he could have passed to Oduro or Ignacio Piatti.

“But I saw the defender, when I cut in front of him he started giving me some space. And I saw the position of the keeper. And I thought to myself, ‘Why not to shoot?’”