After winning in dramatic shootout fashion at home on Sunday night, the Philadelphia Union could secure their spot in the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a win against the Chicago Fire at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday.
As the No. 1 seed in the postseason, Saturday's match will mark Philadelphia Union's final road trip of 2025 and it'll be to the Windy City for the second match of their best-of-three first round series against Chicago Fire. With another victory, they’d move on to host either Charlotte FC or New York City FC. Their series currently stands at 1-0 in favor of NYC -- they'll kick off their Game 2 at 3:30pm Eastern Time.
“I think we want to win every game. It doesn't matter. It’s the second game, we don't think about the [possibility of a] third game,” striker Tai Baribo said after Wednesday’s training session in Chester. “Obviously, Chicago, it's a good team. We respect them, but like every game in the regular season, when we play away, we want to win.”
Saturday’s meeting will be the pair's second head-to-head in less than a week’s time, and that familiarity, along with potential personnel changes could impact the way the game unfolds.
"I think we should play the same. I mean, the first half was tough. They were spending a lot of time, but we didn't care too much. In the second half, we started to play our soccer. We moved the ball a lot. A lot of deep movement. I think we should stick to that," Baribo said.
"Of course, we need to take care of the set pieces. This is what brought them into the game. But I think we should fight the same, play the same, and I believe that will we be able to win."
After 70 scoreless minutes, two runs up the right sideline -- one from Mikael Uhre, who found Indiana Vassilev with a floating pass over the box for the finish, then another Milan Iloski who took it on his own, created a promising Union lead, but a late rally from Chicago in the final minutes erased Philly’s two-goal effort. A goal from Jonathan Bamba in the 83rd, then a headed equalizer from former Union defender turned Chicago Fire captain Jack Elliott in stoppage time forced the match to shots from the spot. The culmination of more than 90 intense minutes was a shot from Jesus Bueno, who came off the bench in the 83rd minute, then stepped up to be the team’s fifth penalty shooter, as he’s done in the past. When his team needed it most, the Venezuelan midfielder calmly placed it to the back of the net, capitalizing on an Andre Blake save and a Chicago crossbar miss to win it for Philly.
“That’s his blessing,” Blake said of his teammate’s heroics after the match.
“He’s really calm. You need to be calm in these moments. He’s very confident. He wants to be the fifth taker and he’s pretty good at what he does."
The match was the first shootout of this year’s MLS playoffs, but it’s something the team hopes to avoid with a decisive win on the road this weekend. With an advantage heading into Game 2, Saturday could be their last match in the series should they earn another favorable result.
Chicago’s Sergio Oregel will be ineligible for Saturday’s match after picking a red card in the 90+4th minute, but the hosts could welcome back an impactful player who missed last match. After initially appearing on the team’s intended starting xi, Danish attacking midfielder Philip Zinckernagel picked up an injury during warmups in Philly and was unable to play, replaced by Maren Haile-Selassie. The Newcomer of the Year finalist was a massive missing piece for Chicago, and it’s unclear whether or not he’ll be available for the second edition of the matchup.
As for the Philadelphia Union, Jeremy Rafanello will be back with the traveling group, joining the team on their trip to Chicago.
"We're just getting guys back, regenerated, back fit, back healthy, back strong," Carnell said in his matchday -2 press conference.
"Rafaello looks really good. So, we have a whole contingency to travel, and then we'll put out a squad that's very competitive, and hopefully can turn it on and finish it off in two."
