D.C. United left-back Taylor Kemp making one of his traditional runs down the left flank, opposed by Philadelphia Union defender Ray Gaddis (Image Credit: Jennifer Jordan-Harrell Photography)
Everyone likes a derby. That seems to be the mindset of Major League Soccer this season who officially proclaimed that the Philadelphia Union and D.C. United are now rivals. Although no fake trophy has been established yet the two sides will do battle at PPL Park tonight (7pm EST UNiMas) for something far more important:points.
At least from a head-to-head perspective there is some support for the rivalry claim. Since the Union’s introduction to the league in 2010 the series has been remarkably close. Although D.C. has the edge at RFK Stadium (four wins to Philadelphia’s one with three ties) the Union hold the advantage at PPL Park (four wins, three losses, zero ties).The Union defeated D.C. twice last season at home: a 1-0 win back in May and a 2-1 win in June.
Even though D.C. were able to get two wins at RFK last season against Philadelphia neither was a standout performance. In part that is due to the play of Union forward C.J. Sapong. Sapong broke the D.C. defense both in his goal in their late July encounter and helped set up Sebastian Le Toux for the club’s second. The former Sporting Kansas City target man has been on a tear this season scoring five goals and three in his last four matches. Given that United are still struggling to keep teams off of the scoresheet early in matches look for him to figure prominently into coach Jim Curtin’s attack.
D.C. United’s Alvaro Saborio challenging Philadelphia Union midfielder Fred (photo credit: Jennifer Jordan-Harrell photography)
What is interesting about this Union side is how much they mirror D.C. United from 2014. A club coming off of a terrible season, the Union invested wisely in players that can either play up top or in the midfield (Chris Pontius) and draft two defenders (Joshua Yaro and Kegan Rosenberry). The club also likes to rely on long crosses into the box for Sapong from either Sebastian Le Toux or Fabinho. Although Pontius has been rather coy about leaving D.C. this winter for the Union expect him to be a bit more charged up for this game.
Containing those crosses into the box will be the work of left-back Taylor Kemp and Sean Franklin. The United pair have shown this season that they can track wingers making standard breakaways. Where they struggle though is when their opponents make overlapping runs down the pitch. Against both NYCFC and FC Dallas United conceded goals off of plays where dummies were used to throw off the defense. That simple wrinkle is a staple of the Curtin attack and will be used often tonight.
Where D.C. can get back at the Union is in the center midfield position. Although Nick De Leon is not your prototypical center-midfielder he has shown this season that he can build attacks from scratch and can make diagonal passes into space. With Luciano Acosta likely to start in front of him the raw, young Union defense will have their hands full.
The big match-up to keep an eye on will be Alvaro Saborio against Yaro. Olsen will look to play the Costa Rican international against the Union rookie due to the gap in experience between the two and his ability to get younger players (in particular center-backs) out of position. If he can find a shot on target Saborio (four goals in 2016) likes to draw out defenders allowing wingers to make a late run into the box. Look for Patrick Nyarko to be the beneficiary of such plays particularly late in the match.
Whether this is a rivalry game or not yet is debatable. What is certain however is that both sides should be coming into this match brimming with confidence. Given that United has yet to win a match on the road this season (0-1-3) and the Union have lost just twice in their last ten home matches (5-2-3) all indications is that the Sons of Ben will be celebrating in Chester tonight. But United always seems to find themselves in matches late and somehow more often than not can come away with points. If they can hold off an early Union barrage a draw seems possible.
DC United
Philadelphia Union
