Holy shit! What a game!

Your Philadelphia Union are Eastern Conference Champions, scoring three unanswered goals on Sunday night after going down 1-0 at home, getting revenge on NYC FC after last year’s COVID nonsense forced them to play the conference final without 11 players.

They’re now headed to MLS Cup for the first time in franchise history, joining the Phillies as the second local team to play for a championship in 2022.

Not gonna lie, it was feeling a bit like a classic Andy Reid Eagles choke job for a while there. The Union looked a little off, their captain had to be subbed out, then they conceded first, tightening Subaru Park sphincters in the process. Surely they weren’t going to lose at home to NYC in the conference final for a second straight season, right?

“Not so fast my friends,” as Lee Corso would say.

It was 3x MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake as the catalyst for the turn around:

The back angle showed the ball was hit right at him, but it was low and forced the reaction, so for Blake to get a big arm on that and parry it out, that’s still supremely impressive. He’s been doing this for almost nine full seasons now, so nobody should be surprised.

Here’s the equalizer:

Brilliant ball played here by a center back, if you can believe it. Jakob Glesnes won Defender of the Year, but he’s low key a very sharp player in advanced positions and has a really good eye. They got NYC snoozing here off a substitution and he weighted that pass perfectly into the right channel for Julian Carranza to slam home.

This one ended up being the game-winner:

The highlights don’t go back far enough, but this one actually started with a Glesnes defensive win, and then the Union pushed numbers down the right flank. Teenager Jack McGlynn plays in the beautiful loopy left-footed cross, Carranza heads it down perfectly, and Daniel Gazdag stays onside, stays calm, and finishes.

They added an insurance goal:

A Cory Burke route 1 classic right there. He’s a handful and has created so much by simply bulldozing his way down opposition throats.

It goes without saying, but I’m really happy for Jim Curtin, the front office staff, the players, and all of the fans who have been going down to Chester since day one. There was some really depressing soccer being played down there back in the day, and the nascent front office was all over the place, but this franchise turned the corner hard and they deserve all of the success they’ve had since 2019. They really are a blue collar group that plays hard and embodies everything that Philly sports fans are looking for in their teams. They don’t quit, they grind, they’re mentally tough, etc. Pick whatever cliche you want. They exhibit all of that, and while it’s not always pretty, it’s really effective and now they’ve got a chance at winning their second trophy since 2020.

Union at LAFC in the MLS Cup Final, coming up this Saturday at 4 p.m.