Mikael Uhre scored in the 40th minute, and the Philadelphia Union clinched their second Supporters’ Shield in team history with a 1-0 victory over visiting New York City Football Club on Saturday night in Chester, Pa.
After finishing 23rd last season, the Union (20-7-6, 66 points) clinched the trophy for the most points in the regular season for the first time since the 2020 season. Philadelphia also set a team record with its 20th victory, improving to 12-1-4 at home this season.
Uhre drew back into the starting lineup in place of Quinn Sullivan, who was lost for the rest of the season with a leg injury, and made an immediate impact to put Philadelphia ahead.
After regaining the ball near midfield, Philadelphia sprinted up the field and Jovan Lukic sent a pass to Uhre at the right side of the box. As NYCFC defenders Raul Gustavo and Kevin O’Toole converged on him, Uhre sent a right-footed shot by Matt Freese for his sixth goal this season.
Andre Blake made two saves for his eighth shutout this season.
Blake preserved the lead by denying Agustin Ojeda in the 69th, also kept the game scoreless with a diving save on Hannes Wolf in the 20th and finished the contest by easily catching a corner kick from Nicolas Fernandez in the final seconds of stoppage time.
New York (17-11-5, 56 points) lost for the second time in three games since clinching a playoff spot two weeks ago and nearly tied the game in the 89th, but officials determined Maximo Carrizo was offside.
Leading scorer Alonso Martinez returned from a leg injury that kept him out of last week’s 3-2 win over the New York Red Bulls, but missed an open look in the initial minutes when his shot sailed to the left.
NYCFC was outshot 14-7 and blanked for the 10th time this season, dropping into fifth place in the Eastern Conference. NYCFC also holds a two-point lead on sixth-place Nashville.
Freese made four saves for NYCFC after missing the final 20-plus minutes of last week’s contest against the Red Bulls with an injury.
–Field Level Media
