Chester, PA: There is something special about playing in front of the home fans to begin a new season, & that is what we saw on Sunday as the Philadelphia Union took on NYCFC in a Playoff Rematch at Subaru Park in Chester, PA. The Union was looking for a couple of things: 1st win of the 2026 MLS Season & 2nd to get revenge for losing to NYCFC in the Playoffs last year.

Before the game, the Union would have Philadelphia Eagles RB Will Shipley bang the drum to get things going

Lineup:

How the game went:
In the 1st half, both teams would take the first 20 minutes of the match to get a feel of how things were going to go & NYCFC would take advantage as they would score in the 36th minute from Hannes Wolf off a left footed shot from the center of the box for the 1-0 lead & the crowd at Subaru Park had that cioncerend look like is this going to be a repeat from how they lost to NYCFC in the Conference Semifinals last year which was at Subaru Park.

Going into the 2nd half, what could the Union do to break through the press that NYCFC was showing & to get the crowd at Subaru Park back on their feet? There would be a play where Jovan Lukic would get tackled in the box & VAR would take a look & this was the decision

Later on in the 2nd half, a call would go the Union’s way as it would lead to a Penalty Kick & Indiana Vassilev bangs it home for the 1st home goal of the 2026 MLS Season

For the 2nd game in a row, the Union would look very out of character as Olwethu Makhanya would get his 2nd yellow, which resulted in a  red card

NYCFC would take advantage of it and would score the game winning goal with less than 2 minutes left in stoppage time by Tayvon Gray & then the final whistle sounded, the crowd at Subaru Park was not happy with how this game ended as NYCFC comes to Philly & takes the 2-1 win as the Union try to figure out why they are making these very costly mistakes.

Postgame:

Union Coach Bradley Carnell:

Union Players: Indiana Vassilev, Nathan Harriel & Stas Korzeniowski

What is next:
Its early in the h2026 MLS Season & the Union are off to a 0-2 start & will attempt to correct the mistakes they are making as they also have a very young team still getting used to how things are supposed to be, their next game will be at Subaru Park on Saturday, March 7 against San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30 PM on  Apple TV.