A stout Philadelphia Union defense held the Columbus Crew to two shots on goal in a match that was there for the taking, though the Black & Gold ultimately came up short 1-0 on Wednesday night at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia's Jamiro Monteiro scored in the 24th minute and the Union held on in the second meeting this season between last year's MLS Cup champions and Supporters' Shield winners.
The Crew's Marlon Hairston nearly came away with the equalizer late, but Philly's Andre Blake did well on a 1-on-1 denial to preserve his sixth clean sheet of the season.
The Union returned even on points with Orlando in second place in the Eastern Conference with the victory, while stretching their unbeaten run to seven matches. Philadelphia also won for the first time in its last five attempts against the Crew, which saw its three-match win streak snapped.
Darlington Nagbe, who was named the Nationwide Man of the Match for Columbus, completed 61 of 62 passes, including a 97.2-percent passing accuracy in the opponent's half.
Columbus now stands at 4-3-2 on the year and in fifth-place in the Eastern Conference with a 3-0-1 record at home and 1-3-1 record on the road.
Up next, the Crew head to Austin FC on Sunday, June 27 for an 8 p.m. ET showdown on FS1 and 97.1 FM The Fan.
