With three games left in the regular season, the Philadelphia Union visited one of its happiest hunting grounds.
And boy, did the Union feast Saturday night.
Led by Milan Iloski and first-half sub Mikael Uhre, the Union ran roughshod over D.C. in a 6-0 win that strengthens their hold on first place in MLS with two games left to chase the Supporters’ Shield.
The win ties the Union’s franchise record for wins at 19. Paired with Inter Miami’s 1-1 draw with Toronto earlier on Saturday, the Union (19-7-6, 63 points) retake control of their destiny over the Shield. They also benefitted from Vancouver dropping points at Seattle and San Diego being dealt a shock defeat by San Jose at home.
If the Union win their last two matches – vs. New York City FC on Saturday, at Charlotte in three weeks – they would reach 69 points, a level no other team can hit. Miami can max out at 68, Cincinnati — which plays Sunday against Orlando — at 67.
The win is another chapter in the Union’s D.C. dominance. Over the last nine games against D.C., the Union are 7-0-2, having scored 36 goals and allowed a mere three. Over the last 19 meetings in all locations since D.C. United christened Audi Field, the Union are 13-3-3 against their nearest neighbor to the south with 58 goals scored. It’s the second time they’ve beaten D.C. 6-0 at Audi Field, having done so in 2022 to augment a 7-0 result in Chester that season.
Indiana Vassilev scored twice, Uhre paired a goal with an own goal forced and two assists. Iloski scored and had a hand in three more tallies, and Bruno Damiani scored for the third time in four games to go with an assist.
It wasn’t exactly a great start for the Union. D.C. created several dangerous moments before Damiani’s opener. Jared Stroud hit the post in the 26th minute and the crossbar in the 29th with the game at 1-0.
The Union took time to settle in, with Bradley Carnell opting for Iloski up top in place of Tai Baribo, suspended for yellow-card accumulation. Quinn Sullivan exited with an apparent leg injury in the 13th minute for Uhre, with Iloski shifting to midfield.
That opened the floodgates. Uhre, who entered with five goals and two assists in just over 400 minutes against D.C. United in his career, blistered them again. He stretched the field with a looping run off the outside shoulder of a center back that Iloski spied, and the Dane squared a ball for Damiani to tap home in the 17th.
Damiani’s ball in the 34th found Uhre near the penalty spot, and Uhre let fly. The ball deflected off the leg of center back Lucas MacNaughton and off the chest of left back Conner Antley, looping over goalie Jordan Farr for an own goal and a 2-0 lead
It was three by half, Iloski pounding a shot from 24 yards that Parr padded down. But the only one paying attention to the rebound was Vassilev, who tiptoed past a half-dozen DC players to get to the doorstep and nudge home the rebound.
Iloski curled one into the side netting just before the halftime break with a bid to get a fourth. It only took until the 49th for that to happen. Damiani held off a defender and fed Iloski at the top of the box to slip a 22-yard shot through traffic, perhaps with a deflection, and past Parr.
The goal is Iloski’s 12th of the season in MLS, the first 10 coming with San Diego. It’s his third in all competitions with the Union. The assist is Damiani’s first in MLS.
The fifth came in the 50th for Vassilev. Kai Wagner found Uhre into a familiar pocket of space wide, and he squared for Vassilev to one-time home his fifth of the campaign. A win by Jovan Lukic in transition sparked a break in the 62nd, and Iloski slipped a feed to Uhre to get his goal, a fifth of the campaign.
It didn’t all go the Union’s way. In addition to Sullivan, Vassilev limped off late. Wagner has been harboring a couple of knocks that he’s laboring through, and second-half sub Jeremy Rafanello appeared to get banged up. Andre Blake made two saves as the Union booked its 13th clean sheet of the season.
https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/28/union-solidify-shield-position-with-rampage-over-d-c-united/