Substitute Yaw Yeboah scored in the 75th minute and Patrick Schulte made three saves to help the Columbus Crew defeat the host Philadelphia Union 1-0 on Wednesday.
The last win for the Crew (13-4-7, 46 points) in Philadelphia was on Sept. 12, 2015.
Yeboah and Max Arfsten entered in the 62nd minute and combined for the goal with the help of another late replacement, Cucho Hernandez, whose cross-field pass sent Arfsten down the left flank.
Hernandez dribbled toward the end line and then sent a cross to the 6-yard box where Yeboah was unmarked for a header that took one bounce before settling inside the left post for his first goal of the season.
Andre Blake made six saves for the Union (6-11-9, 27 points), who squandered an opportunity to move past Atlanta United for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The match was rescheduled from Saturday because of the Leagues Cup. On Sunday, Philadelphia lost the third-place match to visiting Colorado on penalties while the host Crew downed Los Angeles FC 3-1 in the title match in a rematch of the 2023 MLS Cup, which was also won by the Crew.
It was no surprise that Crew coach Wilfried Nancy made wholesale changes with only defender Malte Amundsen and midfielder Sean Zawadzki holdovers from the starting lineup on Sunday.
That left Hernandez (13 goals in MLS), Diego Rossi (nine) and Christian Ramirez (seven) on the bench.
Rossi entered in the 62nd minute and Hernandez followed nine minutes later.
The Crew were fortunate to get through the first half with the score tied at 0-0. They allowed five corners in the first six minutes to the Union.
Columbus escaped unscathed but Philadelphia had bad luck later in the half. In the 13th minute, Tai Baribo, who was honored before the match for being the goal leader (seven) in the Leagues Cup, smacked the right post.
In the 38th, Quinn Sullivan fired from close range and Schulte made a stabbing left-handed save that sent the ball off the crossbar.
–Field Level Media
