Gazdag moving closer to catching Le Toux for Union all-time goalscoring record

In the Union’s last game against the New York Red Bulls, playmaker Daniel Gazdag scored a breakaway in the 76th minute to seal a 4-1 victory over their rival. Though the goal pushed Gazdag past C.J. Sapong on the Union’s all-time MLS goals leaderboard, leaving him now 13 shy of club legend Sebastian Le Toux, Gazdag has only cemented his place as the Union’s second leading scorer.

Back on July 12, he surpassed Kacper Przybylko as the Union’s second all-time leading scorer in all competitions after his late penalty kick goal against Nashville SC, his second of the game.

Daniel Gazdag officially moves into 2nd place on the Union All Time Scoring List with 37 goals!! 🤑

Watch free with #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/3JYEtze9Cq#DOOP | #PHIvRBNY 4-1 pic.twitter.com/1D5Jt8CLem

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) September 4, 2023

With his 11th MLS goal of the 2023 season, Gazdag added to his 4 Leagues Cup and 3 Concacaf Champions League goals to run his tally up to 18 for the season in 36 games. The Union have eight league games remaining, plus playoffs, so he still has time to reach his own single-season record of 24 goals (22 league and 2 playoffs), which he set last season.

Gazdag’s 47 goals in all competitions trails only Le Toux’s 57, a record he could set before the season’s end. What may be most impressive about Gazdag’s run of form is how quickly he’s risen up the Union goalscoring leaderboard since his arrival midway through the 2021 season.

His 47 goals have come in 101 games, an average of .47 goals per game. Le Toux accomplished his mark in 189 games, an average of .28 goals per game. Przybylko scored 40 goals in 96 games, or .42 goals per game, and Sapong scored 38 goals in 135 games, .28 goals/game, a mark equal to Le Toux.

Gazdag’s form has kept him in the mix with the Hungarian National Team. The former Hungarian league Player of the Year with Budapest Honvéd made his 20th international appearance in June, starting in a 2-0 win over Lithuania in a Euro 24 qualifier. Though he is in the squad for the current international fixtures, he did not appear in the 2-1 win over Serbia. Hungary leads Group G with 10 points on 3 wins and a draw. Following a friendly against the Czech Republic, Hungary will resume Euro qualifiers in both the October and November international windows, which will come prior to the end of the regular season and during the playoffs.

Gazdag is not the only Union player surging up the club’s all-time leaderboard. Julian Carranza, the Union’s stellar young signing of the 2021 season, has also progressed up the Union goalscoring charts at an efficient rate. In 71 games through nearly two seasons, Carranza has scored 31 goals, a .44 goals per game average, which is second to Gazdag. After two seasons, Carranza ranks fifth for the Union in goals in all competitions

Philadelphia Union All Time Goal Scorers (All Competitions)