Shoot your shot? Not easy against the 2019 Union defense

Here's a weird question to ask two months into a season: What was the last team to put more than one shot on goal against Philadelphia Union at home?
Your options are all teams in the top five spots of their respective conferences, and every one of them has at least one road win. 
The answer, of course, is Toronto. Since opening day, the Union have given up three shots on goal at home over three matches. 
Just let that simmer for a moment; let it really sink in. 
Because it's important to reflect on the narrative that arose after the season's first two matches: Haris Medunjanin was such a defensive liability that he needed to be pulled. Even now, as the Union enter Vancouver having given up more than two shots on goal once in their past six matches, there is a belief that this team lacks the star power necessary to compete in MLS. 
But Jim Curtin and, more recently, Ernst Tanner have always preached team over individual, and culture over cult of personality. 
One of the more overlooked aspects of last season's playoff run was the number of personnel changes that needed to click. Ray Gaddis moving to left back, CJ Sapong embracing the wing, Cory Burke taking his chance, Mark McKenzie stepping up in a big way. 
This year the Union brought in a big name to quarterback the offense, but Marco Fabian's suspension and injury have not only opened the door for players like Brenden Aaronson and Jamiro Monteiro to strut their stuff, but they have also given Curtin the platform to show what he can do with a deep roster. 
Curtin has rolled out seven different lineups through eight games. He has played a narrow 4-4-2 diamond, a wider 4-2-3-1, and a 4-4-1-1 with Fabian as a withdrawn striker. He has switched Aaronson and Monteiro and may, in future, switch them back. He has used three different goalies and have reintroduced two players that lost their spot last season -- Jack Elliott and David Accam -- to the starting lineup. Heck, Ale Bedoya has played at right back... and scored while doing it!
In front of a largely consistent back five, Philly has already used ten different starters in the front six and big offseason signing Sergio Santos has yet to crack the first eleven as he fights through injuries. Last season's joint-leading scorer Fafa Picault hasn't even gotten off the mark yet and the team already has three multiple goal scorers. When Picault gets rolling -- he and Fabian have two of the three greatest differences between actual and expected goals in the league right now (Josef Martinez sits between them) -- Philly's attack, which already ranks top ten in Expected Goals at about one-and-a-half per match, could improve even more. 
If that happens while the defense remains at its current level -- best in the Eastern Conference at under a goal per match and giving up the fewest shots per match in the league -- Curtin has a team that can fulfill his request after the Montreal win and become a great MLS team. Already, only LAFC and Chicago have a larger gap between the number of shots taken and shots allowed. 
Overall, the story of the Union's season thus far is one of quiet dominance. Only Chicago and LAFC have a better shots ratio (Philly has taken 101 shots and only given up 68) and neither of them have done it with their biggest offseason signing in and out of the lineup and their new striker sidelined. 
Last year, six of the eight teams that had 13 points by this point of the season made the playoffs. The other two were a streaking, dysfunctional Orlando side and a one-note Revolution squad that couldn't adjust once their high press was exposed. The Union have neither of those flaws. They have the strong locker room culture that has always been a hallmark of the Curtin era and a level of formational and tactical flexibility unseen in past seasons. 
Also, they have depth across all four bands on the pitch. 
There is a long way to go, but when the top three teams in the Eastern Conference stumble out of the gate it opens the door for others. The Union want to walk through that door. And the trick to fulfilling that goal is to remember that this isn't a squad built around star power; it's one built on teamwork. 
The culture in the Union locker room has always been strong. This season, the club has depth and the coach is using it to create matchups that favor his team. Marco Fabian may be a star, but he's also just one member of a group that is suffocating its opponents as it looks to bring Philadelphia its first MLS playoff win.