CHESTER, Pa. -- Cristian Maidana is having a record-breaking season.
With three more assists in Sunday’s 3-3 draw with the Chicago Fire at PPL Park (see story), the Union playmaker passed Sebastien Le Toux to claim the club single-season record with 14 this season.
“I’m proud at the moment for what I’ve done,” said Maidana, who beat Le Toux's team record 12 assists in 2013. “If the team gets more goals because of it, I feel proud. I’m really happy here in MLS and so is my family. I hope I can stay in the United States for a while and continue to help the team.”
But Maidana isn’t just helping out here and there. In the shadow of his club’s downtrodden year and lost amongst the league’s bigger names, the Argentinian is currently in sole possession of the MLS assist lead, one ahead of Sporting Kansas City’s Benny Feilhaber and two more than the Columbus Crew’s Ethan Finlay -- two MLS All-Stars.
“He’s calm on the ball and gets us in dangerous positions,” said Union veteran Brian Carroll. “He serves a good ball in on the run of play and in set pieces. He’s an important piece for us and we need to keep feeding him the ball and letting him create.”
And that’s not all. Very quietly, Maidana has tallied more assists than anyone in MLS over the last two seasons with a total of 25. And according to Opta, is the only player to have three triple-assist games since the start of 2014.
“For him to reach such a milestone, that’s incredible,” said Union back Ray Gaddis. “That just shows what kind of attacking threat Chaco Maidana is. He’s leading the league in assists and that’s not by accident.”
To say Maidana is a big part of the Union’s offense is an extreme understatement, as the facilitator could easily be the team’s MVP. He has 10 more helpers than anyone else on the team and has touched 46 percent of the Union’s goals this season.
Since Maidana joined the club in 2014, the Union are 2-6-3 when he doesn’t play.
“If you’re a striker, the player you want behind you is a player like him,” said Union forward Fernando Aristeguieta, who powered home a line drive corner kick from Maidana in the first half of Sunday’s match. “As a striker, it’s very easy to play in front of him.”
But if Maidana, the most productive MLS playmaker since the retirement of Landon Donovan, is that impactful on the Union, why isn’t anyone noticing? Carroll doesn’t know, but he likes it.
“That’s fine with me,” he joked, implying that Maidana surprises the opposition. “As long as he keeps doing that I don’t think he’ll be underrated for much longer.”