CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — After Philadelphia blew a two-goal lead late, Jesus Bueno scored the decisive goal on a penalty kick and the top-seeded Union defeated the Chicago Fire in a best-of-three opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday.
The game was tied 2-2 in regulation and went straight to a penalty shootout, but Chicago goaltender Chris Brady saved a shot from Michael Uhle, but Andre Blake reacted to a shot by former teammate Jack Elliott.
In the next two games, Philadelphia had goals from Francis Westfield and Milan Iroski, and Chicago had goals from Brian Gutierrez and Hugo Kuipers. Ty Balibo gave Union a 5-4 lead before Bueno scored the winning goal when Joel Waterman’s shot hit the crossbar.
Indiana Vasilev found the back of the net in the 70th minute with assists from Uhle and Iroski for a 1-0 lead. Vasilev is making the postseason for the first time since being traded to St. Louis City in February. Oule came on as a substitute for Bruno Damiani in the 64th minute and recorded his first assist in his seventh play-off appearance.
Iroski received a pass from Balibo and scored the goal five minutes later for a two-point advantage. Both players made their postseason debuts.
Jonathan Bamba, making his second playoff appearance, scored his first postseason goal in the 84th minute to make it 2-1. Defenseman Andrew Gutman recorded his first assist in three playoff games.
Elliott scored a goal in the third minute of stoppage time in the second half to tie the score. It was his first postseason goal with the Fire, having scored three points in 11 playoff appearances over six seasons with the Union.
A minute later, Sergio Oleguer was red carded for a foul on Balibo, forcing Chicago to go man-down with five minutes left in stoppage time.
Blake finished with three saves in goal for the Union, which won the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield this season. Blake allowed 20 goals in 13 postseason starts for the Union through 2016.
Philadelphia has reached the postseason in seven of the past eight seasons, nine overall.
Chris Brady failed to make a save in his second playoff start for the Fire, who are making their 14th postseason appearance since 2017.
The series moves to Chicago on Saturday.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
