As the Union prepare to take on United for a club record 10th time, this is a matchup that has created itself into quite the rivalry. On Sunday, the teams’ first meeting of the season will be nationally televised for all to see what anyone who has watched these two play already know:
They don’t like each other.
But in addition to being a gritty hard-nosed affair, they generally are also riveting displays of soccer as well and the statistics prove that. In this piece we point out some of the surprising numbers that have emerged from the aftermath of these meetings.
Note: These numbers don't reflect statistics from the Union's pair of preseason games against United this year.
2 Number of times Union defender Sheanon Williams has been ejected on yellow card accumulation against D.C. United, the last in the 1-1 draw at RFK in August.
2 Number of goals between former United players Danny Allsopp and Andy Najar apiece in this rivalry.
5 Number of goals scored by Sebastien Le Toux in this rivalry, the most all-time on either team highlighted by his hat trick in the clubs’ first ever meeting on April 10, 2010.
6 The exact number of saves for a game high between Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath and United goalkeeper Bill Hamid. Hamid made six saves in a 1-0 win over the Union at PPL Park in September while MacMath made his six in a wild 1-1 draw at RFK a month earlier. In all, Hamid has made 24 saves in this matchup; MacMath has 12.
13 Number of goals the Union have scored against United in all competitions.
14 Number of goals United has scored against the Union in all competitions.
14 Number of shots in regular season matches taken by both Le Toux and United forward Chris Pontius.
166 Number of fouls committed over the last nine meetings, an average of 18.4 fouls per contest.
12, 2 Number of cautions (yellow) and ejections (red) given to the Union in regular season play.
17, 4 Number of cautions (yellow) and ejections (red) given to D.C. United in regular season play.
1-0-1 The Union’s mark when leading United at the half. Furthermore, the Union are 2-1-1 all-time when scoring the first goal.
Union intern Howard Hutchinson contributed to this report
Contact Union writer Kerith Gabriel at kgabriel@philadelphiaunion.com
