Union lose to NYCFC, 2-1, will host New York Red Bulls in playoffs

The Union aren’t quite backing into the playoffs, having clinched a postseason berth on Sept. 1 and a home game on Sept. 20. But Sunday’s 2-1 loss to first-place New York City FC at Talen Energy Stadium left the team with no momentum at the end of the regular season.

The Union have won just one of their last five games, and finished the campaign with their first two-game losing streak since they started the year in the same fashion.

Making matters worse, Kacper Przybylko suffered a non-contact left foot injury during pregame warmups, leaving him one goal short of the team’s single-season record. He didn’t break anything, and was seen walking around without much pain at the end of the night. But there weren’t any more details available.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself and speculate exactly what it is," manager Jim Curtin said. “We’ll get through some X-rays and pictures tomorrow [Monday] and evaluate it.”

The only good that came out of Sunday was that the Union will play the New York Red Bulls instead of star-studded Toronto FC in the first round of the playoffs on Oct. 20. New York lost at Montreal to fall in the standings, while Toronto rose by beating Columbus.

Union-Red Bulls will be a 3 p.m. kickoff at Talen Energy Stadium, broadcast nationally on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes.

The Red Bulls won’t be an easy opponent either, and not just because they’re the Union’s biggest rivals. But if one team has Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley and the other doesn’t, you take the latter.

"They know us, we know them,” Curtin said of New York. “We’ll see now who can can do it better. And we have it on our home field, which is a big opportunity for us.”

If the Union can beat New York, they’ll face either No. 2-seed Atlanta United or No. 7-seed New England Revolution. A trip to Atlanta is the one thing the Union most wanted to avoid in these playoffs. But they ended up three points and a tiebreaker short of second place, which would have forced Atlanta to come here.

The Union also lost one of their potential pathways to the Concacaf Champions League. If any of NYCFC, Western Conference winner Los Angeles FC or U.S. Open Cup champion Atlanta wins MLS Cup (and thus two CCL berths), the next best team overall qualifies. That honor will now go to the Seattle Sounders.

With two weeks until the playoffs start, there’s time to reset things — and get Przybylko and Alejandro Bedoya back to full health. There’s also plenty of work to do to produce the first playoff win in team history.

“Until you do something as a club, which is win a first playoff game, everybody’s going to be hard on you and observing and waiting for you to fail,” Curtin said. “We’ve earned a home game through a lot of hard work of the players, so now we have an opportunity, and it’s a big one.”

The postseason is a straight bracket, with no re-seeding.

First Round

1. New York City FC gets first round bye

4. Toronto FC vs. 5. D.C. United: Oct. 19, 6 p.m. (TUDN)

3. Philadelphia Union vs. 6. New York Red Bulls: Oct. 20, 3 p.m., (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)

2. Atlanta United vs. 7. New England Revolution: Oct. 19, 1 p.m. (Univision, TUDN)

Conference semifinals

1. New York City FC vs. 4. Toronto FC or 5. D.C. United: Oct: Oct. 23, 7 p.m. (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)

3. Philadelphia Union or 6. New York Red Bulls vs. 2. Atlanta United or 7. New England Revolution: Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes; highest remaining seed hosts)

Conference final

TBD vs. TBD: Oct. 29, time TBD (ESPN, ESPN Deportes) or Oct. 30, time TBD (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)

If New York City FC qualifies, the game will be Oct. 30.

First round

1. Los Angeles FC gets a first round bye

4. Minnesota United vs. 5. Los Angeles Galaxy: Oct. 20, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

3. Real Salt Lake vs. 6. Portland Timbers: Oct. 19, 10 p.m. (ESPNews, ESPN Deportes)

2. Seatle Sounders vs. 7. FC Dallas: Oct. 19, 3:30 p.m. (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)

Conference semifinals

1. Los Angeles FC vs. 4. Minnesota United or 5. Los Angeles Galaxy: Oct. 24, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN and ESPN Deportes)

3. Real Salt Lake or 6. Portland Timbers vs. 2. Seattle Sounders or 7. FC Dallas: Oct. 23, 10 p.m. (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)

Conference final

TBD vs. TBD: Oct. 29, time TBD (ESPN, ESPN Deportes) or Oct. 30, time TBD (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)

Hosted by the finalist with the best regular-season record

TBD vs. TBD: Nov. 10, 3 p.m. (ABC, Univision and TUDN)