Philadelphia Union capitalize on Chicago Fire mistakes to advance to MLS Eastern Conference semifinals

The Philadelphia Union extinguished the Chicago Fire, 3-0, by capitalizing on two errors from backup goalkeeper Jeffrey Gal at Seatgeek Stadium on Saturday, to wrap up the first round series of the MLS Cup Playoffs with two wins.

The Union advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals after a one-year hiatus in 2024, and will make their fourth appearance in the round in five years. The Union will play the winner of Charlotte FC and New York City FC at Subaru Park in a one-off elimination match at a time to be determined on the weekend of November 22nd after Charlotte won game two in a lengthy penalty shootout.

The 32-year old Gal made his playoff debut with just seven previous MLS caps under his belt after Chris Brady was scratched after picking up an injury late in the week. Gal gave away two backpasses right to the feet of the Union in an eventful first half. Tai Baribo scored twice and Andre Blake saved a penalty kick to keep the game at 2-0, before Bruno Damiani made it 3-0, all within 35 minutes.

From there, the Union more or less saw out a comfortable second half to sap any hope of a Fire fightback and end with a shutout. While the xG finished 1.8 to 1.5 in favor of the Union, the massive swing from a potential one-goal game to a three-goal gulf gave the Supporters Shield winners too much padding.

Heading into the game, the Fire were boosted with the return of Philip Zinckernagel on the right wing and came out in a 4-3-3 instead of the five-in-the-back setup from last time, with the creative Brian Gutierrez also getting a start in the midfield trio.

After absorbing Union pressure for most of the first meeting but backed into a must-win scenario, Berhalter took a much more adventurous approach in the club’s first true home playoff game at SeatGeek Stadium since 2017. 

The Union made one change to their lineup from game one, slotting Frankie Westfield in for Indiana Vassilev on the right side, and Mikael Uhre was not able to make the matchday squad.

With the Union always raring to play a game in chaos, the Fire’s aggressive mandate meant up-and-down soccer early with high lines of confrontation both ways. 

But before things ever settled, the Union took an opportunistic lead on a Fire miscue in the eighth minute. Gal played an astoundingly loose touch with the wrong foot into pressure on a harmless back pass. Tai Baribo smelled blood in the water with an energetic sprint to pickpocket the backup and slot into an empty net. 

The early goal left the Fire facing an uphill battle against a Union team that thrives on snowballing their opponents, and the Union seized control of the game and pinned the Fire back further.

And just seven minutes after the first goal with the Fire defending a long throw-in, Zinckernagel flubbed a key clearance that allowed the Union to recycle the ball to a wide open Kai Wagner. The left back delivered a perfect cross to Baribo by splitting the Fire center backs and avoiding Gal, and Baribo smashed a header to the back post to bag a brace. 

For as frustrating as the Union’s first half was in game one, the same energy paid off in game two with a pair of instinctual moments from Baribo to force the Fire into desperation mode.

Berhalter subbed off midfielder Romingue Kouame in just the 25th minute for Mauricio Pineda. The Union’s suffocating press exposed the lack of progression in the trio, and down two, Berhalter switched the more defensive Kouame into Pineda, a less mobile but better passing option.

The Fire then eventually labored for a few set pieces and after a handful of deliveries, won a penalty on an off-ball foul in the 30th minute after Jovan Lukic dragged down Jack Elliott. Gutierrez, who scored in the shootout in game one, rolled a grass-eater to his right, and Blake read the shot perfectly to make a crucial stop look easy.

The save, and goalkeeper gap, in Bridgeview, proved even more decisive just five minutes later. 

Gal received a backpass from Eliott that took him drifting right towards his own endline. Instead of clearing his lines, Gal’s backwards momentum sprayed his kick up into the air and right to Bruno Damiani at the top of the box. The Uruguayan deftly redirected the ball into another empty net on his first touch, capping a ruthless opening flurry to make it 3-0. 

To start the second half, Berhalter took off right back Jonathan Dean to get in winger Maren Haile-Selassie. The Fire took command of possession and found some dangerous positions, and within six minutes forced Blake into a difficult-to-deal-with backpass of his own. 

Blake didn’t cover himself in glory, launching a clearance into an onrushing Gutierrez that rebounded into the net, but the referee immediately deemed a handball on the Fire attacker, whose hand was outstretched.

Over the next 15 minutes, Union were able to keep their work rate high and threaten enough the other way to prevent the Fire from locking the Union in, with strong work from the midfield and fullbacks. 

Berhalter subbed on striker Tom Barlow for defensive midfielder Djé D’Avilla and Carnell put on Indiana Vassilev for Milan Iloski around the 65th minute.

In the closing 20 minutes, the Fire made more inroads on their left-hand side with Gutman and Gutierrez getting into dangerous cutback positions, but the Union defended in their box when called upon. As time ticked on into the final 10 minutes, the Union had effectively defanged the home effort and deflated the home crowd.

The match was stopped multiple times in the final 10 minutes with Fire fans making a discriminatory chant while Blake took goal kicks. Stoppage time was limited to two minutes, and Blake made a diving save in the closing seconds to seal a well-deserved road playoff shutout.