The Philadelphia Union started strong, winning a couple of corners early. Fabinho picked up a yellow card in the fourth minute on a hard foul on Luciano Acosta, and Alejandro Bedoya picked up one in the eleventh on another hard foul on Lamar Neagle. The game was very disjointed in the early portion, with plenty of fouls and restarts required.
The Union constantly tried stretching D.C.’s defense vertically, and it worked to some degree. The Union were able to get some decent setups down in the D.C. area. D.C. on the other hand looked to play short passes in hopes of out-maneuvering the Union.