The Union won an important road point in their 1–1 draw with the defending MLS champion Colorado Rapids on Saturday to record the first two road game unbeaten streak in club history. It’s probably safe to say that many Union fans, myself included, thought Philadelphia had a real shot at a win. Danny Mwanga said after the game that the dodgy PK call served as a motivator for the team. “We had more chances, and I think we could’ve easily scored maybe two or three more goals if we had more time.”

The numbers would seem to back him up. Statistically, Colorado had the better run of play in the first half, producing more shots, significantly more crosses and passes and more possession. But in the second half, momentum clearly shifted toward the Union as they doubled the number of shots, hugely increased the number of crosses and increased both possession and passes.

Match Statistics

Overall, it is no surprise that the Union’s numbers declined compared to their output against Toronto with the number of attempts on goal the lowest since the road loss to Dallas. Looking back over the past five games, the recent trend of diminished possession continued against Colorado. While the number of passes improved compared to the Toronto game, the tally against Colorado was the second lowest over the last five games. Only against Dallas did the Union record a lower percentage for passing accuracy.

Team Offensive Stat Totals

Looking at offensive production, for the third time in the past five games, Sebastien Le Toux did not record a shot, never mind a shot on goal. But he did record a rather sweet assist on Mwanga’s even sweeter goal. Gabriel Farfan failed to record a shot this time out and Jack McInerney’s 59 minutes of play yielded but one shot off target, the same result that was recorded from Stefani Miglioranzi’s 11 minutes of play. Jordan Harvey’s awesome strike from distance was his first shot of the season and was only inches from being a shot on goal, as well. Valdes and Williams continue to contribute the odd shot—it’s kind of hard not to have the feeling that one of them is gonna sink one real soon.

In the table below, every player that has recorded an offensive stat is shown. “NA” indicates the player did not appear in the Colorado game. The number in parentheses is the player’s season total for each category.

Team stats

The Union’s single goal against Colorado moved them into fifth in the league, but the rankings are skewed by the fact that seven teams have scored 16 goals. Perhaps a better way to understand where the Union are in the league is the number of teams that have scored fewer goals, which is six. In the number of assists, three teams—Kansas City, Columbus, and New England, all of which are in the Eastern Conference—have recorded fewer than the Union. The Union remain last in number of shots and only Kansas City has recorded fewer shots on goal. Despite being in first place, the Union are in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference in every non-penalty kick category except for fouls committed.