A Cucho Hernandez penalty kick in the 72nd minute rallied the host Columbus Crew to a 1-1 tie with the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.
Nathan Harriel scored in the 50th minute and Andre Blake made eight saves for Philadelphia (14-8-9, 51 points).
The Crew (14-9-8, 50 points) extended their home unbeaten streak to 8-0-3.
The Union continued one streak vs. the Crew but couldn’t end another.
Philadelphia is 4-0-3 in the past seven matches against them but have not won in Columbus since 2016 (five losses, four ties) while scoring just twice during the span.
After the Crew dominated the first half, the Union struck early in the second with Harriel’s open header from 5 yards off the corner kick by Kai Wagner that gave Patrick Schulte no chance to make a save.
Philadelphia was boosted by the return of Julian Carranza (12 goals, 5 assists) from missing the match Wednesday while in concussion protocol.
He entered at the start of the second half as did Daniel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre. The trio have combined for 33 goals this season.
Uhre blistered a shot off the post in the 66th minute and five minutes later the Crew drew the penalty when Wagner was called for handball while in the wall trying to block a Hernandez’s free kick.
Hernandez scored his 14th goal and is now 5-for-5 on penalties.
Philadelphia, coming off a 1-1 tie against FC Dallas on Wednesday while the Crew were idle, wanted to avoid falling behind early against a Columbus team that leads MLS with 34 first-half goals.
It was mission accomplished thanks to Blake, the three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. The Crew led in shots (12-5) and those on target (5-1) through 45 minutes.
His best stop was on a redirect from directly in front by Hernandez off a cross by Steven Moreira in the 34th minute. Blake came up big again four minutes later when Hernandez sent Yaw Yeboah into the box for a shot headed to the left corner.
–Field Level Media
