Bruno Damiani's second half finished helped Philadelphia Union maintait its grip on the Supporters' Shield, knocking off New England Revolution, 1-0.
Saturday afternoon's affair was a tight one with the two Eastern Conference foes unable to break the stalemate until the 70th minute. Substitute Milan Iloski timed his run perfectly to chase down a pass from homegrown Frankie Westfield to set up the match-winning moment, then delivered a perfectly placed pass for Damiani to slot it home.
Philadlephia Union wraps up September with a short trip down I-95 as they take on rivals D.C. United on Saturday, September 27th. Kick off from the nation's capital is set for 7:30PM ET with coverage on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
How The Match Unfolded
Lineup notes
Head Coach Bradley Carnell sent out a changed lineup on Saturday afternoon in the absence of starters Olwethu Makhanya and Jovan Lukic, who were each suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
Without them, Nathan Harriel shifted to centerback with Jakob Glesnes, while Frankie Westfield and Kai Wagner appeared at right and left back.
Jesus Bueno made the start in the midfield with Indiana Vassilev, Danley Jean Jacques, and Quinn Sullivan, while Tai Baribo and Bruno Damiani were paired up top.
When the club's longtime public address announcer listed the lineup, the loudest response came when he introduced three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake, who returned to the starting XI for the first time in over a month.
Rick, who's stepped up between the posts in his absence, was on the bench alongside Cavan Sullivan, Mikael Uhre, Alejandro Bedoya, Jeremy Rafanello, Olivier Mbaizo, Chris Donovan, Milan Iloski, Neil Pierre, and Andrew Rick.
15', Scoreless opening stretch | The first quarter hour of the contest was a tight affair, with New England finding the lone two chances -- both missed shots.
22', First booking goes to the Revs | New England's Allan Oyirwoth was shown a yellow in the 22nd minute after taking down Danley Jean Jacques near the left side in their attacking half. With the foul, Philly was awarded a free kick taken by Kai Wagner, but they were unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
24', Union on the attack | Vassilev attempted to chip the ball into the box for another chance, but his effort was stopped by Revolution keeper Matt Turner. A few minutes later, Danley passed out of traffic to Quinn Sullivan to spark another chance for Philly, but despite a promising pass from the Homegrown into the box plus a subsequent second attempt to from Frankie Westfield, the score stayed 0-0.
38', Another corner | Another corner, this time from the right side, unfolded into an shots from Westfield, Damiani, and Indiana Vassilev -- all saved by Turner.
45', Halftime | Philly mounted one last attack as a a forward pass from Vassilev to Baribo gave the Israeli a chance to score the opening goal before the break but the shot soared over the net.
49', Another New England yellow | Four minutes into the second half Peyton Miller was shown the away side's second yellow of the match after taking down Frankie Westfield.
51', Jakob Glesnes shot | Looking to mix up the Union attack and with some loud encouragement from The River End, center back Jakob Glesnes unleashed a long-range shot from 35 yards out but missed it just wide of the far post.
57', Quick restart force a Turner save | After Matt Poster took down Bruno Damiani, the Boys in Blue earned a dangerous free kick. Philly went immediately as Tai Baribo shot it forward to Quinn Sullivan on the right side and after a quick dash toward the net the homegrown's attempt was saved by Turner.
60', Union sub | Head Coach Bradley Carnell made his first change of the match in the 60th minute, swapping in Milan Iloski for Danley Jean Jacques. The swap saw Vassilev drop into a holding mid position so that Iloski could occupy an attacking role.
62', A third yellow for the Revs | Alhassan Yusuf was shown the Revs third yellow card of Saturday's contest after denying a quick restart of the match for poor sportsmanship.
70', BRUNO!!! | The substitution paid off for the Boys in Blue as the change unlocked the Revs defense. Playing it centrally to Vassilev near the kick off spot, the midfielder whipped a forward pass to Bruno Damiani with his back to goal. The forward tapped it out wide to Westfield who teed up a pass perfectly in sync with a run from Iloski to beat the back line. With the end line approached, Iloski hit a pass for a sliding finish from Damiani for the breakthrough.
75', Revs shown red | The intensity between the two sides boiled over with 15 minutes remaining with Peyton Miller being shown a red card to put his team down to 10 men while Baribo was issued a yellow card which puts the forward out next week for yellow card accumulation.
82', Two more changes for the Boy in Blue | Looking to see out the three points, Carnell brought on fresh legs with Chris Donovan and Jeremy Rafanello in place of Jesus Bueno and the goal-scoring Damiani.
85', Turner keeps it 1-0 | Philly nearly put the match away with an issurance goal from Quinn Sullivan, taking a quick pass from Donovan but the USMNT shotstopper got a finger tip on it to push it over the net.
90+', Blake preserves the win | Needing a win to stay in contention for the MLS Cup Playoffs, Tomás Chancalay nearly knotted the match at 1-1, taking a hard shot at the near post but Blake was there to push it aside.
