This week's Throwback Thursday piece is looking way back. Way, way back. All the way back to... this time last year. It really is hard to pass up a game from some previous year that so closely parallels D.C. United's next fixture. This weekend, of course, the Black-and-Red travel north to Chester, Pa. to face the Philadelphia Union. On May 10 last year, they did the same.
The parallels continue: last season, United were off to a good start, while the Union were flailing. A year ago, Chris Rolfe was rolling in strong form, and United were figuring out the best pieces to play in the best spots on a deeper-than-expected roster. All these things remain true today - even more true than they were.
Of course, things do change. United aren't just riding a hot start, they've matched the best 10-game span to open a season in club history. If anything, the Union are far worse than they were in 2014. Eddie Johnson won't have a goal wrongly disallowed for offside this weekend. Lewis Neal (LEWIS NEAL!) and Cristian Fernandez will not play any part of proceedings at PPL Park.
But United faithful will still travel. They'll still share some beers with the Sons of Ben before the game before exchanging banter with them once the opening whistle sounds. (The visiting support is suprisingly close to the SoBs' River End.) And United will probably be coming home with three points, just as they did one year ago when Chris Rolfe's early strike provided Ben Olsen & Co. the 1-0 win.
Hopefully one more change from last year will be a larger margin of victory for los Capitalinos.