Mikael Uhre delivered the only goal they needed and a full house at Subaru Park got to celebrate the Philadelphia Union’s second Supporters’ Shield win with a 1-0 victory over NYCFC on Saturday night. What. A. Night.

In the email today:

1. ⛨ Philadelphia Union beat NYCFC 1-0 to win Supporters’ Shield

The Philadelphia Union put in a workmanlike performance Saturday night at Subaru Park to shut down NYCFC after a first half goal from Mikael Uhre and wrap up the 2025 Supporters’ Shield with one game left in the regular season.

In doing so, the Union became the first team to clinch the trophy for the team in MLS with the best regular season record on their home field since they accomplished the feat in 2020.

Uhre’s goal was deflected and beat former Philadelphia Union homegrown and Wayne, Pa. native Matt Freese to his near post in the 40th minute. Freese started the match that clinched the 2020 Supporter’s Shield in place of an injured Andre Blake and just Jakob Glesnes and Kai Wagner started in both matches for the Union.

Freese was the target for a corner kick on the last play of the game that Andre Blake was able to catch in the air to seal the 1-0 victory and set off celebrations from the sellout crowd on a beautiful night in Chester. While the attack was missing young star Quinn Sullivan, who tore his ACL in the win over DC United and will miss the rest of the campaign, Uhre stepped up to score the only goal they needed, this time as a starter after scoring in the rout over DC off the bench.

NYCFC had an early chance from Alonso Martínez that somehow missed all of the goal four minutes in as the Union seemed to be shaking off some jitters and put the ball in the back of the net late with a would-be equalizer that was waived off by the offside flag. The Union had a penalty shout and a couple of good chances cut down by Freese but were at their best stifling the Pigeons attack, which was held to just two shots on goal, one that resulted in a textbook Andre Blake save on a Hannes Wolf shot in the 20th minute.

The win was the 20th of the season for the Union under first-year head coach Bradley Carnell, who inherited a strong core of players strengthened by the additions of Bruno Damiani and Jovan Lukic in the offseason and Milan Iloski in early August. Missing the playoffs last year proved to be a blip thanks to the integration of first-year starters Olwethu Makhanya and Frankie Westfield to a team that didn’t have the early wear and tear of inter-continental football to distract from their goal of returning to the league’s perch.

Saturday night was a party like it couldn’t be in Chester back in the thick of a global pandemic but as much as the trophy is a gift to the fans, it’s a stepping stool to a much greater ambition for both the club, its players and its long-suffering fans.

The Union have an international break and a season finale on the turf in Charlotte on October 18 ahead of their playoff push, where they’ll look to exorcise the demons of their 2020 one-and-done, the 2022 penalty kick heartbreak and buck the trend of Supporters’ Shield teams falling an MLS Cup short of a double.

3. 🐍 Social Post of the Day: Happy to Have Been Wrong

4. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Nothing like seeing the Philadelphia Union on the main story on MLS Soccer with the word “Winners” in bold.

• Matthew DeGeorge’s game story on last night’s triumph for the Delco Times.

• Greg Oldfield caught up with Williamstown, N.J. native Brittany Ratcliffe on her return home for the Concacaf W Champions Cup at Subaru Park.

• MAC Freedom conference play kicked off locally with a wild 8-goal second half at Arcadia on Saturday.

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