Hold the champagne: Philadelphia Union clinch sixth straight playoff berth

Daniel Gazdag’s late penalty kick after a baffling foul in the box secured an unlikely draw for the Philadelphia Union in Charlotte Wednesday night while also securing a fully expected sixth straight playoff berth.

A win would’ve guaranteed the clinch but the draw coupled with a Columbus Crew win over the Chicago Fire and DC United and Atlanta United draw wrapped up the least surprising thing that will happen to the Union this season.

It’s the eighth playoff berth overall for the Union but it registered very little in the locker room at Bank of America Stadium, according to head coach Jim Curtin, who became just the 7th MLS manager to lead a single team to six straight playoff berths.

“There used to be champagne and beers flowing after a playoff clinch and now it’s… when I say nothing you can walk in there and it’s crickets,” Curtin said post-game. “They’re mad that we didn’t get a win so that’s a good change in mentality.”

The Union qualified for the playoffs only twice over their first eight seasons.

Making their first MLS Cup final last year certainly raised the bar and made qualifying for the postseason with six games left less important. But the way MLS goes it’s not always a given teams that make and even win MLS Cup cruise back into the playoffs.

Home field advantage remains a focus in the last six games left, including Saturday’s much anticipated MLS Cup rematch with LAFC.

“We want to finish top four and push as much as we can to get as many home games as possible,” Curtin said.

The Union joins three other Eastern Conference teams that have secured a playoff berth: FC Cincinnati, Orlando City and Columbus Crew. No teams in the Western Conference have clinched yet.