Sebastien Le Toux's penalty shortly before half time was enough for Philadelphia Union to see off Orlando City with a 1-0 victory on the final day of the MLS season at PPL Park.
Orlando came into the match knowing that they were unlikely to make the playoffs despite winning their last five matches in a row, but it was their goalkeeper Josh Ford who was busy early on, saving from both Tranquillo Barnetta and Eric Ayuk in the space of 30 seconds.
CJ Sapong was denied a tenth goal of the season when his fierce drive was tipped onto the crossbar by Ford and the goalkeeper denied Barnetta twice more on his first start as the hosts continued to be frustrated in the first half.
The visitors thought that they had taken the lead against the run of the play when they had a goal ruled out for a push by Seb Hines, and minutes later they were behind as Ford was finally beaten.
Sebastien Le Toux was tripped carelessly by Cristian Higuita in the penalty area and the forward picked himself up to convert from the spot and hand his side a deserved lead at half time.
Sapong and Le Toux had early second-half shots blocked as the US Open Cup finalists looked to extend their advantage and put the game beyond doubt, while a long-range effort from Carlos Rivas and Cyle Larin's header were Orlando's only half opportunities.
The away side finally came alive when Pedro Ribeiro effort was saved by Andre Blake and his follow-up header blocked, but Higuita was shown a second yellow card late on as the hosts closed out their first win since September 20 to end City's five-match winning streak.
Tom Nightingale
