The significance of Daniel Gazdag’s 90th minute game winning goal down in Nashville on Saturday night wasn’t just 3 points on the road for Union. It wasn’t only keeping Philadelphia as Major League Soccer’s lone unbeaten team to start the 2024 season, or responding to criticism from Hungarian National Team Manager, Marco Rossi, or even putting Union just 2 points off the Supporters Shield lead with a game in hand – though that probably is the MOST important.
But it’s also noteworthy because of the number the game-winner brings Gazdag’s goal total since joining Philadelphia to 55, just one behind all-time club leader, Sebastien Le Toux
A Quiet Climb to the Top
If you feel like this hasn’t been talked about all that much, it’s because it kind of hasn’t. I was also surprised by the lack of coverage it seemed to be getting around the start of last season when I wondered to myself how close Gazdag was getting to reaching Seba.
Some of that might be by design. Union’s philosophy isn’t one that carries an individualistic mentality. The team doesn’t have a star like some of the others do – In Philadelphia the team IS the star, the focus is put on the the over-all success of the squad and less about personal accolades.
Some of the lack in chatter in all truth, might just come down to inconsistent stat keeping in the early days of MLS and the various competitions MLS sides compete in. No matter what site I looked at, Sebastien Le Toux’s goal total across all competitions varied. So after reaching out to my contact at the club, Sebastien Le Toux’s total goals scored across all competitions is officially 56.
Seba’s History With Union
Not only has Sebastien Le Toux scored the most goals across all competitions for Union, but he scored the very first goal in the first win in club history – a game he scored a hat-trick in by the way – and he’s been writing Union’s history books since. Le Toux IS Union history. Here’s how those 56 goals are spread across different competitions
MLS – 50
MLS Playoffs – 1
US Open Cup – 5
Gazdag’s start with Union
Daniel Gazdag had somewhat of a slower start to life in Philadelphia, scoring just 5 goals in 28 games in his first season with the club. The Hungarian followed his first season up by scoring 22 goals in his first full MLS season – 1 short of the Golden Boot- accompanied by 2 goals in the playoffs for a total of 24 on the season.
Gazdag slowed down slightly in 2023, scoring 14 goals in MLS play, 1 in MLS Playoffs, 3 in the CONCACAF Champions League, and 4 in the inaugural edition of the Leagues Cup – a season total tally of 22.
So far in 2024, Daniel Gazdag has 4 goals in MLS play, bringing his career total with Philadelphia Union to 55 – just 1 behind Le Toux’s record.
Plenty of PKs
To address the elephant in the room, yes – Daniel Gazdag has scored a LOT of goals from the penalty spot, something that some people think diminishes his accomplishment. But the Talisman also been incredibly good for Union in that regard, converting 100% of his attempts from the penalty spot. He did miss one attempt at most inopportune of times – the MLS Cup Final – but that one doesn’t count towards his total because that was in a penalty shootout, not a PK as a result of a foul in the box.
Of Gazdag’s 55 goals, 27 of them have come from the PK spot – a percentage of just below 50%. Sebastian Le Toux was almost just as good as Gazdag from the spot, though he didn’t take nearly as many for the U in his career, converting 13 of 14 attempts. 13 of 56 goals makes Le Toux’s percentage of goals scored from the spot at 23.2%.
It’s No Longer if Gazdag passes Seba, but when
Sebastien Le Toux scored his first goal for Union on April 10th, 2010. He played over 180 games for Union and was able to amass 56 goals scored across all completions, serving as the very first bar to reach in Union’s history. Now, 8 seasons after Union’s first legend played his final game with the club, the questions is no longer when someone will come around and break Le Toux’s record – but when Gazdag will score his next goal, the one that writes him in Philadelphia Union history books forever.
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire
