The Philadelphia Union took Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs with a 3-1 victory over the New England Revolution at Subaru Park.
Daniel Gazdag opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Mikael Uhre doubled the Philadelphia lead with a simple tap-in after New England goalkeeper Jacob Jackson parried a bouncing ball in front of him.
It became 3-0 after 37 minutes when Nathan Harriel finished a Kai Wagner free-kick to put the Union in complete control of the match.
The Revolution, who lost former league MVP Carles Gil in the first half through injury, got on the board when Gustavo Bou beat Andre Blake into the roof of the net but managed nothing further.
Game 2 is set for November 8 with New England looking to even the series.
Story of the match
Tomas Chancalay had the first chance of the match in the fifth minute, his shot from outside the box sailing well over the goal and at the other end, Andrew Farrell blocked Jack McGlynn's shot.
New England should have been in front after eight minutes, Noel Buck beating a stranded Blake but watching his shot bounce agonizingly off the crossbar.
Blake then accidentally took out Wagner and an alert Damion Lowe cleared the follow-up off the line.
Moments later, Philadelphia was in front after McGlynn forced a hurried back-pass to Jackson with Julian Carranza getting a touch on the ball after colliding with the Revolution goalkeeper.
After declining to give a penalty, a check of the play by VAR led to referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere awarding the spot kick with Gazdag stepping up to beat Jackson, remaining perfect in penalty kicks.
Gil was then forced to leave the match in the 23rd minute after a heavy collision with Uhre earlier in the game as Bobby Wood came on to replace him.
Three minutes later, the lead was doubled. Wagner's cross from the left took a pair of fortuitous bounces and Dave Romney deflected it towards his own goal, forcing Jackson to parry with Uhre on hand to make it 2-0 from close range.
Inside the final ten minutes of the first half, the hosts took full control of the match, Harriel drawing a yellow card on Chancalay and converting Wagner's cross from the ensuing free-kick to head home.
Giacomo Vrioni came on at halftime in place of Mark-Anthony Kaye but the visitors continued to make much of an impact on the Philadelphia defense, their struggles clearly showing without Gil on the field.
Six minutes after Quinn Sullivan made his postseason debut, replacing Carranza, Bou was in space and split Harriel and Jack Elliott to score for the third time in two matches against the Union.
With a quarter of an hour to go, Wood and Emmanuel Boateng combined with the former didn't make good contact allowing Blake to parry the ball off the bar.
Leon Flach and Chris Donovan came on to see out the game for Philadelphia and did so effectively, the only notable incident coming with five minutes left after Vrioni fouled Harriel and being confronted by Jose Martinez.
Man of the match: Kai Wagner
With his future with the club up in the air, the German reminded everyone why he's the best left-back in the league, playing his usual solid match on defense and supplying plenty of service, particularly from set-pieces while on offense.