Philadelphia Union heads into the Eastern Conference semifinal carrying the kind of pressure only a Supporters’ Shield winner knows. The team hosts New York City FC on Sunday at Subaru Park with a spot in another conference final on the line. On paper, the task looks straightforward, but in practice it’s far tougher: beat a familiar rival that hasn’t been at its best, yet always finds a way to grow in knockout games. It’s a matchup built on rivalry, recent heat and meaningful changes on both rosters, which only adds to the unpredictability.
Philadelphia arrives ready to take control
The Union has plenty going for it. The team finished the regular season with the best record in MLS and carries a twenty match unbeaten streak at home, a number that matters a lot in the playoffs. Winning the Shield in October boosted the group’s confidence, and now the goal is to finish the season with something even bigger.
Bradley Carnell’s squad didn’t just rest during the break. It trained hard, simulated match conditions, used the downtime to fine tune details and watched almost the entire roster return in top shape, except for Quinn Sullivan. The recent games also served as a warning about how quickly things can slip. The Union took a 2 0 lead over Chicago Fire in the first match of the best of three series, let it disappear and had to survive in a penalty shootout. In the next match, the team corrected everything and won 3 0 on the road, showing the level of focus needed for a semifinal.
There’s also the emotional weight of playing at Subaru Park. The last time the Union hosted a conference final, in 2022, it beat NYCFC and reached the MLS Cup for the first time. The feeling of that night is still part of the building.
New York City FC tries to balance absences and improvisation
NYCFC comes in with clear issues. Three important players are out: Andrés Perea, Aidan O’Neill and Alonso Martínez, the team’s top scorer in the playoffs, who injured his knee while playing for Costa Rica. Pascal Jansen will have to reshuffle the lineup, and the fact that he hasn’t hinted at alternatives shows how many internal questions he’s dealing with.
Even so, New York City isn’t walking in defeated. The team won two of three games against Charlotte in the previous round, including a 3 1 victory on the road that showed real resilience. And despite the recent inconsistency, they’ve won five of their last six away matches, a sign that fuels the hope of repeating the upset from the 2023 US Open Cup, when they knocked out the Union in dramatic fashion.
This matchup also carries a curious pattern. In the last fourteen meetings between the two, there hasn’t been a single draw. Every game ends with a winner, always with too much intensity for the scoreboard to settle quietly.