Union beats Cincinnati to advance to MLS Conference Finals

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Leon Flach is the new hero for the Philadelphia Union.

The 21-year-old scored the Union’s lone goal as they eliminated FC Cincinnati with a 1-0 win in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs. 

After some great combination play in Cincinnati’s defensive third, the Union capitalized off a loose ball when Dániel Gazdag went down inside the penalty box. 

The ball took a fortunate deflection towards Flach, who was playing as a left midfielder, and he curled it in with a speculative effort using the outside of his boot that went past Cincy goalkeeper Roman Celentano in the 59th minute.

Chances came Cincinnati’s way to potentially equalize, most notably in the 83rd minute when rising USMNT striker Brandon Vazquez pounced on a defensive mistake and rifled a shot toward Union’s No. 1 Andre Blake, but the MLS season leader in clean sheets came up big to parry it away.

Philadelphia managed to close it out deep into extra time of the second half, and Flach and Blake both deserved plaudits for Man of the Match nominees –  Flach with his eventual game-winning curling strike and Blake for saving all five Cincinnati shots that were on target. 

The Union had a first-round bye as a reward for being the top-seeded squad in their conference while No. 5 Cincinnati had eliminated No. 4 New York Red Bulls with a 2-1 win.

Now, Philadelphia earns a week of rest and a chance to scout two of its next possible opponents when the No. 2 seed CF Montréal hosts the No. 3 seed and defending champions NYCFC on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Whichever team wins that game would face the Union at Subaru Park on Sunday, Oct. 30, with kick-off time to be announced on a later date.

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