Jesus Bueno scored in a penalty-kick shootout to give the Philadelphia Union a 2-2 victory over the Chicago Fire in the opening match of their Eastern Conference Round One playoff series on Sunday in Chester, Pa.
Philadelphia outscored Chicago 4-2 in the penalty-kick session, also getting tallies from Frankie Westfield, Milan Iloski and Tai Baribo. Andre Blake had one of his four saves during the shootout.
The game broke open late after the teams played conservatively for the first 70 minutes and created few chances.
The Union appeared on their way to victory when Indiana Vassilev scored in the 70th minute and Iloski followed five minutes later with a goal to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.
But in the 84th minute, Jonathan Bamba answered for Chicago, scoring into an open goal after a deflection following a Blake save.
Then three minutes into stoppage time, Jack Elliott fired a blistering right-footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner to send the match to penalty kicks.
With the victory, Philadelphia can wrap up the three-game series with a win Saturday at Chicago. The Union have outscored the Fire 7-2 in three victories this season.
Philadelphia, which won the Supporters’ Shield as the team with the best record in the MLS, is attempting to capture its first MLS Cup.
The Fire were coming off their first postseason victory since 2009, 3-1 over Orlando City on Wednesday in the Eastern Conference wild-card round.
Chicago played without star forward Philip Zinckernagel (15 goals, team-high 15 assists). Zinckernagel was a late scratch on Sunday as he suffered an abdominal strain during the pre-game warmup.
Without their top facilitator, the Fire had difficulty breaking through against a Union defense which surrendered the fewest goals (35) in the league this season. But that changed after Philadelphia took the lead.
Sergio Oregel of the Fire will miss the second game of the series as the midfielder received a red card for tussling with Kai Wagner of the Union in stoppage time.
Brian Gutierrez and Hugo Cuypers scored on penalty kicks for Chicago. Joel Waterman’s PK attempt in the fourth round of the shootout caromed off the crossbar, giving Bueno a chance to win it.
The win provided a measure of relief for Philadelphia first-year coach Bradley Carnell.
Two years ago, as coach at St. Louis City, his team suffered a humbling two-game sweep to Sporting Kansas City in Round One after compiling the best record in the Western Conference.
It was the 20th straight match without a loss at home in all competitions for the Union. The last Fire win in Philadelphia came in 2013.
–Field Level Media
