Back in the 2021 season, the New England Revolution set an MLS record with regular season points on the way to the Supporter’s Shield that season. Due to a quirk in the MLS calendar where the team had a first round bye in addition to having to wait out the October international break, the Revs had to wait over three weeks between games. An upstart NYCFC team stunned New England in their second round playoff game on the way to an MLS Cup title. This year, the Philadelphia Union won the Supporter’s Shield and swept Chicago 2-0 in the first round giving the Union a bye week where Game 3 would have been, then the November FIFA break. The Union took the pitch on Sunday evening at Subaru Park for their first game in 22 days in the second round of the MLS Cup playoffs and the opponent waiting for them was…hated rival NYCFC. History may not always repeat itself but it certainly rhymes. The Union looked rusty and out of sync for the first half of the game and conceded a goal in the 27th minute which was the deciding factor in this match as NYCFC jumped Philadelphia in this win or go home playoff match 1-0.
The first big chance of the game came for NYCFC in the 15th minute when Nicolas Fernandez let off a shot from the left side of the box which hit the left post. In the 21st minute Bruno Damiani had the first chance for Philadelphia when he sent a shot from the center left of the box directly at Pigeons goalie Matt Freese. Freese bobbled the ball but was able to cover before the ball reached the goal line. In the 27th minute Fernandez sent a through ball up to an unmarked Maxi Moralez who was just onside. Moralez uncorked a right footed shot from the center of the box past Union goalie Andre Blake to give NYCFC a 1-0 lead. The game was feisty throughout, with three yellow cards issued in a five minute span in the first half to Hannes Wolf, Tai Baribo, and Moralez. In the 38th minute Augustin Ojeda sent a long range shot on goal from outside the box which Blake was able to save. The Union had one more chance before the half in the 45th minute when Kai Wagner threw the ball in from the deep left sideline and found Jakob Glesnes in the left side of the box. Freese made the save in the bottom left corner of the net to keep the match at 1-0 going into the half.
The second half was a summary of pure chaos, but the strangest moment came in the 55th minute. Fernandez saw Blake was up far out of his net and sent a shot from the midfield stripe on the left side of the field which was on target to go in. Blake had to race back and save the shot in the bottom left corner of the net, making a fantastic play to save a crazy goal but injuring his hamstring in the process. He attempted to play on but had to exit the game for Andrew Rick in the 60th minute. Mikael Uhre also came in for Tai Baribo and Frankie Westfield subbed in for Jovan Lukic in the same substitution window. Uhre coming in seemed to finally give the Union some energy that was lacking in the first half and the early part of the second. Through balls were going past the front of the net at multiple occasions but some chances finally started to show themselves for the Union. In the 64th the Union had a corner kick from the left side of the field which found Bruno Damiani’s head but the ball went just over the crossbar. In the 74th minute Uhre sent a through ball up to Westfield in the right side of the box. Westfield had a seemingly open look from close range but Freese was able to make a diving save in the bottom right corner of the net. Freese was there every time the Union had a chance, practically standing on his head. Controversy came in the 77th minute when a through ball came up to Nathan Harriel on the right side of the box and he received a stiff arm from Raul Gustavo which sent him to the ground. The crowd expected a penalty shot from the rough play but the officials disagreed, declining to call a foul on Gustavo. In the 87th minute Frankie Westfield had another chance from the right side of the box but his shot sailed too high over the net. Westfield was dejected, throwing himself into the net for a moment feeling as if this was the last chance to save the Union’s season. The chaos of stoppage time similarly produced no hope for the Union as the MLS’s biggest curse fulfilled its prophecy once again. Throughout the league’s history, the Supporter’s Shield winner rarely wins the MLS Cup.
Notes and quotes
- Mikael Uhre stayed on the field a long time after the final whistle to soak in the moment. When asked about it he said it was “Definitely emotional. How often do you get a chance to go through this on home field? Obviously I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m out of my contract, we’ll see what happens but it was definitely emotional.” Uhre on the game: “Tough start to the game we didn’t really come out the way we wanted and then they scored and it’s an uphill battle from there.” Uhre was asked again about his contract situation as he is a free agent after this season: “Let’s just say I’m keeping my options open. I’m not saying I’d never come back. I love it here. I love the people here, I love my teammates so I would definitely not say no, but that’s not up to me.”
- Jovan Lukic owned the disappointing performance on behalf of the team. “We weren’t ourselves. I think it was more on us than on them to be honest. We were very prepared…we didn’t play up to our standards, we didn’t perform the way we have been since I’ve been here.” Lukic continued: “It’s not ideal to have a three week break in the playoffs. We said in the beginning we were trying to treat it like a new preseason so it’s definitely not ideal to sweep a team in the first round and feel like you get punished. That’s not my job to sort that out. At the end of the day, we have to take responsibility and we did everything we did to be prepared and it’s on the players to perform better.”
- History repeated itself a second time with this game. The Union lost the MLS Cup Final in 2022 on Penalty Kicks with LAFC goalie John McCarthy shutting down the Union on the biggest stage. Both McCarthy and NYCFC goalie Matt Freese are former Union Academy homegrowns.
- In an equally physical match for both teams, the Union were whistled for 20 fouls while NYCFC received only 8 calls.
- NYCFC continues its run next week in the Eastern Conference Finals at Inter Miami on November 29 at 6pm.
