Philly sports trifecta this weekend.

Your Eagles beat the Cardinals out west, the Phillies swept the other Cardinals to advance to the NLDS, and the Union used a Daniel Gazdag hat trick to dispatch Toronto FC and win Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, earning themselves a first round bye in the process.

This full volley banger in the 4th minute wound up being the game winner:

That was the end product of a 10-pass sequence that came from a recycled set piece. Check out Leon Flach with the backheel skill check. Brilliant game from him and from every other Union player as well.

After today’s result, the Union are the #1 seed in the East and will get the winner of Red Bull and Cincinnati in the second round of the playoffs. You want Red Bull in that game, trust me. They’re a frenetic pressing team and the Union have beat them in the past. Cincy is a tricky club with good attacking players and they’re coached by a former Philly assistant who knows the U inside and out, so that’s one you’re trying to avoid. My prediction is that Philly beats Montreal on home turf to go to MLS Cup. It’s not a hot take or a crazy take, because they should have been there last season and got dicked over by COVID-19 and Major League Soccer.

What the U did this season was nothing short of incredible. They won 19 games, lost five, and drew 10, finishing with a grand total of zero losses at home. They were tied for the Supporter’s Shield and only lost out to LAFC via the total wins tiebreaker, which is kind of corny if you think about it, since every other league in the world uses goal differential. Over 34 games, they scored 72 and conceded just 26, finishing with a +46 GD. That is absolutely fucking bananas. I wish I could put into words how insane that is. The previous franchise record was in 2020, during the COVID year that they won the Shield, when they posted a +26. Some of the best MLS teams in history have not scraped +40 GD, but the Union did it this year while being a juggernaut on both ends of the field.

This team also has multiple individuals up for awards:

  • MVP: Daniel Gazdag, Andre Blake
  • Goalkeeper of the Year: Blake
  • Defender of the Year: Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner
  • Newcomer of the Year: Mikael Uhre
  • Young Player of the Year: Leon Flach, Jack McGlynn
  • Comeback Player of the Year: Julian Carranza
  • Humanitarian of the Year: Alejandro Bedoya
  • Coach of the Year: Jim Curtin

Additionally, with 22 goals and 10 assists, Gazdag set a Union record for most combined G+A in a single season, along with this:

Just incredible stuff. You can go through the numbers and find all sorts of records that were set in 2022.

Hopefully it doesn’t end there. This was a special season, the best in Philadelphia Union history. We need something to remember it by, a piece of hardware. This team has a legitimate shot at winning it all.