New England halts Philadelphia’s 15-game unbeaten streak, 1-2

Chester, PA

October 24, 2026

Streaks are destined to end, and the Union’s 15-game unbeaten streak was bound to be broken.  Union fans had just hoped that it would continue a bit longer to allow for Philadelphia to clinch a spot in the playoffs.  Saturday evening, the New England Revolution stopped that step by beating the Philadelphia Union at a score of 1-2.  Philadelphia remains in sixth place on the MLS East Table.

As the season winds down, injuries are increasingly likely.  Philadelphia fans had gotten used to the spark and vision of the injured 17-year old Cavan Sullivan and Saturday’s game sorely missed his presence.

Philadelphia was strong for the first fifteen minutes.  As the game settled in, New England’s defense improved.  That’s not to say that Philadelphia did not have its chances, but New England’s keeper, Matt Turner looked strong in goal.   In the twentieth minute, Milan Iloski cut into a through pass with no one between himself and goal except Turner.  A wide open shot from Iloski spun off of Turner’s chest.

The first goal was scored during first half stoppage time. New England’s Carles Gil passed left to an open Peyton Miller.  Miller’s header was softly lofted and landed in front of the right corner of Philadelphia’s goal.  An alert Dor Turgeman tapped the ball into the bottom right corner for the Revs.  The assist was awarded to Miller.  The first half ended with a score of 0-1 in favor of New England.

The second score was a consequence of VAR review.  In the 86th minute, Gil was called offside on the field.  Gil brought the ball down field and as he approached the goal, Philadelphia’s 19-year old defender Neil Pierre slide-tackled Gil.  VAR overturned the offside ruling and referee Malik Badawi reviewed the video and called a penalty kick because the tackle occurred on the line of the box.  Gil successfully converted the penalty kick and in the game’s waning moments, the score stood 0-2.

It was too little, too late, but Neil Pierre scored for Philadelphia is the twelfth minute of stoppage time (yes, there were that many alleged injury delays or just plain old delays).  Danley passed the ball to Kai Wagner, who passed to Iloski.  New England’s defense kicked the ball away, but the ball hit the pole.  Wagner quickly crossed right, and all six foot, seven inches of Pierre headed the ball to the left of Matt Turner.  The assist was awarded to Wagner.  The game ended in the score of 1-2.

Photographs of the game appear below:

 

The Rev’s Joshua Wynder alone with the ball.Philadelphia’s Andre Blake pushes away a New England shot.Milan Iloski’s first half fast break bouncing off Turner’s chest Philadelphia’s Kai Wagner following New England’s Luca Langoni step for step. The Union’s Bruno Damiani hot on the heels of New England’s Ethan Kohler.The Union’s Augustin Anello poised to block Langoni’s shot.Gil beamed with pride and bowed not far from madding crowd at Subaru Park after converting his PK.