Domènec Torrent his first victory for NYCFC
New York, NY — The club has welcomed Domènec Torrent new head coach and held one brief training session before taking charge of his first game victory at the Yankee Stadium.
Flying in late on Friday, the Catalan assumed responsibility immediately, setting about preparing his new charges for their return from the MLS international break.
For his first match, Domè could hardly have asked for a tougher task, as the Boys in Blue faced off against the defending champions and he named an identical XI to the one which took on Atlanta 14 days earlier.
Sticking with the team that deserved so much more than a point on that occasion, Torrent was almost rewarded with just five minutes on the clock as Alex Ring took aim from the corner of the penalty box but his ferocious drive was always rising over the bar.
After Maxi Moralez and David Villa both went close for the home side, Jonathan Osorio reminded everyone of the visitors’ threat when he hit the crossbar on 20′.
Seven minutes later, Villa limped off the field with a suspected knee injury and Victor Vasquez seized the initiative in short order, lobbing over the onrushing Sean Johnson to give the Reds the lead against the run of play.
It was a bitter blow but City rallied and, on either side of the halftime interval, threatened Alex Bono’s goal on multiple occasions, flying forward in breathless waves of pressure, camping out on the edge of the penalty box, overlapping and interchanging positions frequently.
Toronto were rattled and were punished after the ball pinballed around the box on 51′, eventually falling to Jo Inge Berget who coolly backheeled through a defender’s legs and over the line.
City did not stop there, continuing to push for the go-ahead goal which finally came on 68′ through the impressive Berget.
This time, the Norwegian raced onto an inch-perfect through ball from Moralez and lashed it past Bono clinically to make it 2-1.
Despite further opportunities to extend that lead (and one fine late save from Johnson), that was how it stayed, giving NYCFC the perfect start to life under their new boss.
NOTES
· Domènec Torrent took charge of NYCFC for the first time
· Jo Inge Berget scored his second and third goals for the club
· City stayed undefeated at home through eight games (W7 D1)
· NYCFC’s all-time record vs. Toronto FC now stands at P8 W3 L1 D4 in Regular Season play
NYCFC Head Coach Domènec Torrent
On how he felt about his first MLS match:
“It was not easy for me because it was a crazy week.We’ve been traveling, but in the end, everything was good. Yesterday was the first training session for me and I think the players are ready. I watched the whole training session and when I saw the intensity and the aptitude, I said, ok, they are ready to try to win the game, but it’s not easy.”
On losing the star striker in the first half, and how severe David Villa’s injury is:
“It’s bad news for us because he’s a key man for our team. He has a lot of experience especially in these kinds of games. It’s not good news, but we have fantastic players. I think we have a challenge, and I think quickly, what is the best way to win the game without David.
On his thoughts on the MLS:
“I’ve seen the last nine games of our team and the last four games of the Toronto team. I think I knew exactly how the MLS played. For me the MLS is a little bit different than the European league. The difference may be in the European league, there’s little bit more organized maybe. I’ve watched 12 games, but normally the MLS team has, two, three, four players with quality. I think the MLS is getting better 100 percent. It’s a surprise for me because people say MLS is good and no, the fans are amazing. I think our fans support the team all the time and sometimes that is the reason why we can win the game. For me, it’s getting better 100 percent.”
NYCFC FORWARD JO INGE BERGET
On his two goals…
“Yeah, it felt good. It’s one of those things where the ball bounced my way, it’s not every day where the ball ends up in the back of the net. It was one of those days where it bounced my way.”
On which goal felt better…
“Nah, the second one felt better… That’s kind of what I’m about, I run and I make the run. Maxi has been giving me those balls has been giving me those balls all year long and this one I managed to get to the back of the net.
On what he did differently after Villa was subbed off…
“I started playing a bit more behind him but when he had to go off I had to go to the No. 9 with Maxi behind me. I felt like I was doing the same stuff I’ve been doing, it just went my way today and I scored twice. It feels better when I score a couple of goals instead of missing chances.”
NYCFC DEFENDER ANTON TINNERHOLM
New coach. Early thoughts…
“He’s been here for one day, so honestly I haven’t got that much expression from him. But we showed today that we have good character on the team and we’ve had like almost two weeks now without a coach. But we still have our staff back home. So, we have our philosophy. We know how to play. So for this game, we haven’t changed up much to be fair. There was some specific details he wanted to change, but we’re probably going to talk about it this coming week – what he wants to change more – but now, he’s only been here for one day.
What were the halftime adjustments…
“We talked about how we created a lot of chances and to be fair, we probably should have a lead. But we felt like that we could do so much better. The intensity wasn’t the best, so I felt like all of us showed, especially in the second half, that we are a really tough team to beat and to face. Especially at home. Even if we are down, we know that we can still win the game and today we showed character, as I said before.”
Will fans be lenient on Domènec Torrent early…
“No, we want to win. It doesn’t matter which coach is here. If he’s been here for one day. We still want to win. So, we don’t have that time. For us, it’s the same. It’s to win games. And that’s the best feeling in the world, to win football games. So, it doesn’t matter that he’s been here for just one day. But it’s probably going to take him some time for him to adjust how he wants us to play. But we are in a good position now and we have the support to continue to win games right now.”
NYCFC MIDFIELDER ALEXANDER RING
On his general thoughts of the game…
“We dominated most of the game. We kept the ball. Overall I think it was a good performance.”
On him playing a little bit higher on the field…
“I don’t think “Toronto FC” was expecting that. I had a couple good runs and combinations. I think today we played well in between the runs and I was able to be more open than I would have normally.”
NYCFC DEFENDER SEBASTIEN IBEAGHA
First impression on the new coach…
“I think he’s great, I think he’s going to be great. He put his stamp on how he wanted us to play. I think we played a little more aggressive and that’s how he wants us to play.”
His relationship with Sean Johnson…
“I just think it’s a tight relationship, we hang out a lot off the field. I think it’s just a on going communication about what we can do better next time, that’s kind of all it is and getting that out to the team.”
TORONTO FC HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
His thoughts on today’s match…
“The first half was okay, I think both teams had a fair number of chances. I think as a group we need to continue to evolve with the game as it progresses. We need continue to work through different guys showing up in different places, communicate with one another, and continue to work through the tough moments. This is a team that will show you different looks, and you gotta be able to adapt. Over the course of the game we weren’t very efficient on the defensive side which cost us a lot of energy.”
On going forward…
“We got to find a foundation of a group that we can continue to build off of. We came of three unbeaten and coming to New York City and getting a win is never and easy thing, but from a performance standpoint we need to this foundation we can continue to build off of.
On the new coach throwing anything unexpected…
Not really. He’s only been there for one training session so it’s not like he’s had a big impact on the group. I have a lot of respect for him that he showed up yesterday and was on the bench today. A lot of coaches would stay up in the stands and separate themselves from this game, so kudos to him in that respect. It wasn’t that so much that they did a lot of different things. We were just not super efficient and we burned a lot of energy trying to make plays with our legs instead of just communicating with each other.
TORONTO FC MIDFIELDER & CAPTAIN MICHAEL BRADLEY
On what he saw over the course of the match…
“Still just struggling to get back to who we are, what we’re best at. So it’s been a trying stretch in every way but we’re going to continue to play and continue to try to find the right way to get things going. But there’s no doubt it’s been a real challenge.”
On the humidity factoring into today’s result…
“It’s the first time this season there’s been real heat and humidity. Obviously that can come into it, but it isn’t an excuse.”
TORONTO FC DEFENDER NICK HAGGLUND
On what he saw in the game today…
“I mean we were grinding. First and second half we were grinding. Second half, it’s unfortunate we go up a goal and give away the game but we got to figure out how to be stingy in the back.”
On looking for an equalizer in today’s match…
“It’s all about getting points on the road right now. At the end, we got to push for everything.”
On playing at Yankee Stadium..
“It’s different, smaller. Counter attacks happen very very quickly, as you saw today from both sides but just got to figure out how to handle it.”
TORONTO FC MIDFIELDER JONATHAN OSORIO
On what went wrong in the second half…
“We just didn’t start the second half good, we came out a little bit flat. The conditions didn’t help that, it was humid, and that makes for hard playing conditions. That’s not an excuse. Letting in that first goal really hurt us and we couldn’t recover.”
On the team trying to work their way up the Eastern Conference standings…
“We have to take it game by game, we gotta go. We’ve been saying this, there’s no time to waste now. Every game is a must win now.”
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