NASHVILLE – Philadelphia walked into GEODIS Park on Wednesday looking for a bounce-back match against the newly crowned MLS Supporters’ Shield winner, Nashville SC, for the first of a two-match road trip this week.

Nashville claimed the title the previous weekend in a victory over CF Montreal and, sitting at 70 points on the season, were eyeing Inter Miami’s historic 74-point record with three matches to go.

Philly, meanwhile, were looking for answers as to who would step up on an evening when they were missing both leading scorers, Milan Iloski and Bruno Damiani, and their assist leader, Cavan Sullivan, against a home side that had not lost at home in 2026 and had only conceded 12 of its league-fewest 23 goals at home.

After a hard-fought and highly defensive performance by both squads, however, Philadelphia picked up a point in a 0-0 draw, becoming the first team this season to hold Nashville scoreless at home.

“I think overall a positive performance against a really difficult team, and the guys stuck with the game plan, worked very hard against the ball, and end up getting what is a positive result on the road,” Richter told members of the press. “So proud of the effort, really, from everybody. The guys that got called on for more minutes than they have been getting in the past few weeks really stepped up and and did the job that the team has. So proud of the guys and and happy overall with the effort that was put in tonight.”

Prior to the match, the club announced that Homegrown Kellan LeBlanc would receive another short-term agreement, marking the fourth time this season LeBlanc would appear in a match roster with the first team.

Highly touted Homegrown Malik Jakupovic would register his first career MLS start after 11 appearances off the bench with the first team. Jakupovic and Ezekiel Alladoh paired up at striker, marking the first time since September 9 against FC Cincinnati that the Ghanaian forward had made an appearance in the starting lineup.

The only other change from this past weekend was that Japhet Sery Larsen would replace Frankie Westfield, who started on the bench, as Richter decided to pair him with Neil Pierre and slide Nathan Harriel out to his natural right-back position.

Defender Finn Sundstrom also returned to the first team for the first time since Orlando City, starting on the bench.

Nashville controlled the majority of possession through the first 20 minutes of the contest. Philadelphia had a few moments here and there, but the home side held Philly’s chances in check with defensive pressure and the ability to close down windows that negated any real quality chances for the road side.

Alladoh also struggled at times in the first half, either committing turnovers, just missing a pass that might have led to a quality opportunity, or mistiming a run. It felt like he never found his rhythm on the evening.

But Richter did praise him for the little things in his performance.

“He did exactly what we asked for him with a lot of work against the ball, a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed,” Richter mentioned when asked. “He held the ball up well. There were a couple moments that he could have been more dangerous, I thought. But overall, let’s start with this: work very hard, do the job that the team is asking, and he did that in a great way. So proud of his performance and the way that he bounced back from from the last couple weeks where he didn’t get so many minutes, he stepped in and did a good job tonight.”

As for Jakupovic, the young player flashed his talent at moments throughout the first half, including a run in on goalkeeper Brian Schwake, forcing the goalkeeper to make a quick scoop. If he had spilled the ball, the young player might have had a prime opportunity for an opening goal.

On the defensive side for the Union, Nathan Harriel was impressive in the first half, and overall, the Union as a whole were very solid, limiting Nashville to zero shots. Andre Blake punched out a cross on what was really the only dangerous ball from the home squad in the half.

Nashville came out in the second half putting pressure on the defense and started to create opportunities. While the Union defense bent, it did not break.

Nashville head coach BJ Callaghan went to the bench, bringing on his two star players, Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge, in the 58th minute.

Richter finally went to the bench as Jakupovic came out for Ben Bender in the 59th minute, ending the Homegrown striker’s evening.

On his performance, Ryan praised Malik’s maturity on the evening.

“It’s a difficult game to come into and get your your first start in MLS because the job was more focused on can you do the defensive work for the team that leads us to having success in the game, and then in the moments when we do win the ball, can you find a chance in transition,” he said on Jakupovic’s night. “But it wasn’t a game where we’re creating chances for them where we’re on top and we have control in their half for long stretches. That just wasn’t what the game was going to be tonight. And he had a mature reaction of that to committing to what the game needed from our strikers.”

As for why he went with Bender in taking off Jakupovic, the Union boss said it was to move Ben to his natural position and move Quinn into the forward position.

The Union had another chance for the first goal of the match as Pierre got his head on a corner kick while Schwake came out of goal prematurely, leaving the goal open. But Nashville denied the opportunity as Reed Baker-Whiting cleared the ball off the line.

Frankie Westfield and Agustin Anello came on for Alladoh and Sery Larsen in the 69th minute.

Ben Bender probably thought for a moment that he had a goal, as Quinn Sullivan skipped a cross along the face of the goal onto a charging Bender, but Schwake made an incredible save to keep the match level.

Whether Sullivan was offside or not, Bender just needed to bury that rather than go across the face of the goal, which allowed the keeper a better opportunity to make a save.

Alejandro Bedoya came into the match for Vassilev in the 86th minute. Vassilev’s energy during the evening was nothing but impressive, and he put in a quality shift for Philadelphia.

Blake made a save on Surridge’s header moments later, and a shot by Andy Nájar moments before the substitution hit the side netting as Nashville kept up the pressure.

In the 92nd minute, Danley Jean Jacques picked up a yellow card, meaning he will miss Saturday’s match against FC Cincinnati due to accumulation. However, Richter mentioned when asked that Jesus Bueno should be available for Saturday’s match.

Nashville kept pressing in stoppage time, looking for the game-winner. First, Mukhtar had a chance on goal, but Westfield blocked the shot attempt following a free kick. Then Elias Saad’s shot would miss to the right of the net in a flurry of chances, but the Union’s defense stood tall.

And with the final whistle, both teams would end the evening in a scoreless draw, marking the second time this season that both teams played to a 0-0 result.

Blake, who made some clutch saves throughout the evening, also picked up his seventh clean sheet of the season.

But there was more. During halftime, the New England Revolution defeated Red Bull New York 3-2 courtesy of Daniel Gazdag’s 83rd-minute goal, which meant that the Philadelphia Union qualified for the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs after heading into the World Cup break on seven points and sitting dead last in the league.

From a playoff perspective, Philadelphia got some breaks with both Orlando City and Cincinnati, meaning that the Union kept their lead of four points over both clubs with two matches to go.

However, with Charlotte winning 4-0 in Montreal, Philly’s deficit is now three points for the fifth seed and five points behind the Chicago Fire. So, while it’s not impossible to surpass either of them, it makes it more difficult heading into the final four matches.

But in the end, a point and a clean sheet on the road heading into Saturday’s match are good from a momentum standpoint and show that they can compete with the top team in the league heading into the playoffs, which is always a positive takeaway.

Philadelphia will now head to TQL Stadium on Saturday as they take on FC Cincinnati at 2:00 p.m. in a match that should have another playoff atmosphere, as both teams will be battling for playoff seeding positions.

The match will be available on Apple TV.

Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.

Main article photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union