CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Wilfried Zaha and Kerwin Vargas scored six minutes apart in the first half, leading Charlotte FC to a 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night. Kristijan Kahlina recorded his 12th clean sheet of the season, helping Charlotte clinch a top-four seed in the playoffs for the first time in club history.
Charlotte (19-13-2) became the 11th team in MLS history to win at least 13 home games in a single season, excluding the shootout era. Zaha, in his first year with the club, joined Anders Dreyer and Philip Zinckernagel as one of the five first-year players since 2020 to score at least 10 goals and record at least 10 assists in a single season.
Philadelphia (20-8-6), known for having one of the league’s top defenses, allowed multiple goals for just the second time since May 24. Union goalkeeper Andre Blake, who entered the game with the third-most clean sheets in the Eastern Conference this season at nine, was unable to keep a clean sheet on this occasion.