For the second straight season it will be Philadelphia Union hosting New York City FC in the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Final on Sunday, October 30th. Kick off from Subaru Park is set for 8 p.m. ET with the match broadcast on FS1 and Fox Deportes.
The Boys in Blue claimed the first spot into the Conference Finals with gritty 1-0 victory over FC Cincinnati on Thursday night. Leon Flach scored his first goal of 2022 with a left-footed finish in the 59th minute which proved to be enough as Andre Blake put on an MVP performance with five saves to record his second career postseason shutout. With the victory, the Union know they will host the Eastern Conference Final for the second-straight season with the contest to be held at Subaru Park on Sunday, October 30th. Tickets for the match are going fast so click the image below to secure your spot now!
NYCFC comes to Subaru Park after a 3-1 road win against No. 2 seed CF Montreal in the other Eastern Conference Semifinal which took place on Sunday afternoon in Canada. Maxi Morales opened the scoring for the visitors with a finish in the box just six minutes into the contest. Montreal nearly equalized four minutes later as NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson made a reaction save on Kei Kamara in the box. Kamara then crashed a shot off the post in the 16th minute and Ismaël Koné was later denied an equalizer by Johnson at the doorstep. With halftime looming, NYCFC doubled its lead with a perfectly executed counterattack that Héber tapped into the back of the net via a throughball from Santiago RodrÃguez in stoppage time. Talles Magno put the match fully away in the second half with a penalty kick finish in the 60th minute. CF Montreal avoided the shutout in front of their home crowd with a headed finish from Djordje Mihailovic.
New York City FC earned the No. 3 seed in East with 55 points after finishing the regular season with a 16-11-7 record. After a hot start to the season, the defending MLS Cup Champions had had some growing pains via the departures of Head Coach Ronny Deila and leading-scorer Taty Castellanos which saw them win just three games in the final 11 regular season contests. In their postseason opener, they dispatched No. 6 seed Inter Miami CF, 3-0, behind second-half goals from Gabriel Pereira, Maxi Moralez and Heber.
The Union were 2-0 in the regular season for the first time in club history against the Cityzens, as they renewed their rivalry with a resounding 2-0 win at Yankee Stadium in March behind goals from Alejandro Bedoya and Daniel Gazdag. Three months later the matchup took place at Subaru Park where the Union were on the right side of the 2-1 scoreline in an instant thriller. Mikael Uhre bagged an early goal in the 9th minute before a penalty kick was awarded to NYCFC which Castellanos finished off in the 89th minute. Like the City of Brotherly Love, the Union never gave up and bagged the match winner as Jose Martinez blasted a shot from outside the box that crashed off Cory Burke and into the back of the net.
The showdown is a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference final that saw NYCFC prevail, 2-1, with the Union missing 11 players ruled out by the league's health and safety protocols. Despite not having much of its defense, including Andre Blake, Jakob Glesnes, Jack Elliott and Kai Wagner, the youthful Union got ahead via an NYCFC own goal in the 63rd minute but Maxi Morales leveled the match just two minutes later. In the 88th minute, NYCFC grabbed the match winner with substitute Talles Magno sending the New York side to the 2021 MLS Cup.
