Our sixth meeting with DC United is just days away.
It’s a Home Opener packed with narrative and intrigue and so, let’s set the scene for Sunday’s showdown with our rivals from the capital…
Key Stats (Via Opta)…
- This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams. NYCFC has won three and DC United has won two. NYCFC have won both games played at Yankee stadium and scored three goals in both matches.
- NYCFC saw a 10-game Regular Season scoring streak snapped in their 0-1 loss to Orlando City SC last weekend. They failed to score in only five matches last year.
- D.C. United had their 16-game Regular Season scoring streak end in their 0-0 draw with Sporting Kansas City last weekend. There was an average of 4.0 goals scored per game between both teams on that 16-game run. Last year, United scored 18 goals in the last 15 minutes of games, the most of any MLS team.
- David Villa had five key passes in the loss to Orlando, which ties his MLS career-high.
- Bill Hamid had five saves against Sporting Kansas City, tied for the second-most of any player in the opening weekend of the season. Hamid has 455 regular season saves since the start of the 2012 MLS season, the most of any MLS player.
- Sean Franklin tallied four interceptions in the opening week for D.C. United. Only seven players had more.
- NYCFC has now been held scoreless in three consecutive games – two of those games took place in last year’s playoffs. NYCFC has not gone scoreless in back-to-back regular season games since April 2015, their second month of existence.
- Hamid has allowed 3+ goals in a game 20 times in 161 career MLS starts. He has allowed 3+ in two of his four starts against NYCFC, making them one of five teams he has conceded 3-or-more goals against multiple times.
- D.C. United’s Taylor Kemp and NYCFC’s RJ Allen are two of the four defenders who have recorded a league-high six assists since the start of last season.
- Sean Johnson did not record a single save in his team’s 1-0 loss to Orlando City. A NYCFC keeper did not record a save in five games in all of 2016.
What’s Changed?
DC United had a busy offseason, bringing in seven players, including Jose Guillermo Ortiz, Chris Odoi-Atsem and Maxim Tissot.
The highly-rated Ian Harkes also came in as a Homegrown Player but much of the work undertaken by the sporting department was locking down key players to new deals.
Bill Hamid, Patrick Mullins and Steve Birnbaum have all been tied down to provide a degree of stability going into 2017.
Last Time…
It was Frank Lampard Night at Yankee Stadium on September 1 last year when DC United last visited Yankee Stadium.
NYCFC ran out 3-2 victors on a dramatic evening which saw Super Frank weigh in with two late goals to win the day.
Last Match…
DC United opened with a 0-0 draw against Sporting KC but will feel as though they did enough to get the win on home soil, forcing their opponents into two outstanding goal line clearances.
Last Season…
Reaching the Knockout Round of the MLS Playoffs, DC’s 2016 season was ended by Montreal.
