NYCFC defeat Union 3-1on Decision Day
Bronx, NY, — The Boys in Blue defeated Philadelphia Union 3-1 on Decision Day to set up the clash which will on Halloween night in the Bronx.
Goals from Maxime Chanot, David Villa and an Auston Trusty own goal gave Domenec Torrent’s side the perfect close to the Regular Season, meaning City opens up their postseason in the Bronx for the first time.
New York City FC clinched the 3rd seed in the 2018 MLS Playoffs tonight after beating the Philadelphia Union 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. NYCFC will play Philadelphia again in the knockout stage on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium at 7:00 PM.
New York went into this one knowing that any kind of a result would ensure that the Boys in Blue opened up the postseason in the BX for the first time.
A Knockout Round game on home field would be the reward and Dome Torrent’s men wasted no time in racing into the ascendancy on Fan Appreciation Day.
It’s rare in soccer than you can say that a goal was coming in the opening 10’ but such was NYCFC’s dominance that Maxime Chanot’s eighth-minute header from a Maxi Moralez corner was no more than they deserved.
Philadelphia ‘keeper Andre Blake had already been called into action on numerous occasions by that stage but there was nothing he could do again two minutes later, when Trusty fired into his own net lucklessly.
The crazy, frenetic opening to the game continued on 14’ when Cory Burke reduced the arrears with an emphatic finish after a through ball had deflected fortuitously into his path.
Philadelphia were making a game of it but City did not buckle, continuing to dominate, inspired by Yangel Herrera, who was making his first start in five months and looked like he’d never been away.
The captain was also looking strong and so it was no surprise when he restored NYC’s two-goal advantage on 34’, forcing it in at the second time of asking after reacting first to Blake’s incredible save.
3-1 to the good at the interval, NYCFC picked up where they left off in the second 45’, with Moralez buzzing in and around the penalty area and drawing a fine save from Blake a few minutes after the restart.
A few minutes later, it was Sean Johnson’s turn to shine and shine he did with an incredible penalty save, denying Fafa Picault from the spot with a giant paw low down to his right.
That was the end of the meaningful incident in the game with the job done from the home side and all eyes trained on a huge game coming up in a few days.
Yangel Herrera made his first start since May 25th
Maxime Chanot scored his first goal of the season and second career goal vs. Philadelphia
David Villa scored his 14th goal of the year
NYCFC HEAD COACH DOMÈNEC TORRENT
On how the team looks going to the playoffs, physically and mentally…
“I think that the most important thing for the next game, because it’s a knockout game, is to play with confidence for the first half or at least the first 30 minutes, and with strong mentality – and with desire. In the MLS, if you have the desire to win, it’s not impossible. The desire is very important and the mentality.
On whether it is advantage to play Philadelphia again after beating them a few days prior…
“You never know. It’s not easy to win two games in a row with the same team, but we have to be focused [on] our team. We have to recover. The best news for us is that we get to play again in Yankee Stadium. We are stronger here. We play with more confidence, and we have to review our game because I didn’t like 20 minutes in the second half when we decided to defend deep because we defend much better when we defend high.
On how Yangel Herrera is looking…
“The first idea was for him to play 60/70 minutes, but at the half, he told me he felt good and I said to him, when you are tired hand up and we change. I’m very happy for the team because he was able to play 90 minutes and that is good news for us.”
NYCFC FORWARD DAVID VILLA
On the game…
“The feeling is good. We were talking about [it] before the game that we need the three points, we need to win the game – the result today was very favorable to us. The result gives us [a chance] to play the playoff at home. We were talking about before we need to [head into the playoffs] with a win and we did it. It’s about the good play we did today, and it’s something we need to show in the playoffs.”
On if having to go through the knockout round will help NYCFC this season…
“I believe every year is different. If you ask me about the experiences the last years, the guys that played in the knockout arrived to the semifinal with more confidence, with more power. I hope this year it happens the same because we’re in the knockout but again, every game and every year is totally different.”
On Yangel Herrera making the team better…
“Of course. He’s one of the best players not only on our team, he’s one of the best players in the league – we’ve felt that way. His position, he’s really important for us. We need him, he did very good. He didn’t think “I broke my ankle…see you next year.” When the people said “probably you won’t play”, he was focusing and said, “I will play in the playoffs, I will work to play.” He worked a lot in the shadows, and we say thank you to him. He’s a very important player for us and he did a strong job for the team.”
NYCFC MIDFIELDER YANGEL HERRERA
On personal fitness level, playing the full game…
“Yes, thank god I’m in good form. Today’s game showed that I’m 100% for the playoffs. It’s been a long journey in order to get back here well. At the beginning I thought I’d play 60-70 minutes but I felt fine on the field, and coach gave me the chance to continue on the field.”
On facing the Union again in the playoffs…
“Yeah, now we know how they play, and they know how we play. However, every game is different, and we’ll see how they come out [this week]. It’s clear that it will be a different game because now it’s to be or not to be, it’s the playoffs, and we’ll come out with even better intensity than we did today.”
NYCFC MIDFIELDER ALEXANDER RING
Talk about the momentum today and how that brings you to the next game…
“Yeah, I think the intensity, the energy, we had from the beginning today set the tone. I think it’s the way we usually play and the way we have to play going into the playoffs.”
Talk about the having the whole squad back and playing well…
“We have all our guys back now and the competition is very high. Everyone was there today and that’s why we won.”
Was this a good game to go into the playoffs on…
“I think the intensity, the energy, the form is what we need going into the playoffs. This is what we have to have going into the playoffs and it’s something that we’ll regroup and try to figure out how to bring into the next game.”
NYCFC GOALKEEPER SEAN JOHNSON
On the penalty kick save…
“It was a reaction that I picked my side. There is not much to it. I think he hit a decent penalty. I was able to get a decent read on it. On any given night it would have gone the other way. I got a good jump. Just tried to do my best turn the ball around. It was an important moment in the match. 3-2 would have been a lot of pressure on us for the rest of game.”
PHILADELPHIA UNION HEAD COACH JIM CURTIN
Thoughts on the game…
“Not good. Cost us a bit. We had a decent response to get it to 2-1. Just wasn’t our night again. We got outplayed by New York City who was the better team for the night. The guys gave better effort in the second half. On a night where you miss a penalty kick, you score an own goal and concede a corner kick, your odds are not going to be good against a really good New York team. We are disappointed. Big picture wise, perspective wise it was still a strong season from us to make the playoffs. We know what the task is. It is most likely we come back here. It will be difficult but again we have stepped up in tough moments before.”
On giving up two goals in the first 10 minutes of match…
“We weren’t good enough. Credit to New York City. They came out like an angry team and really closed us down. Made it uncomfortable for us. We talked a lot about not playing short passes early on especially because they really fight to break up those plays in the center of the field. They were aggressive. We did not have a good response. Overall, with those first two goals in the first 10 minutes, we just were not intense enough. We talked in the pre-game about the focus on this field. Intensity has to be at a maximum. There is no room for breaks.”
On possibly playing NYCFC on short rest in the playoffs…
“It is strange. It’s a strange stadium. It’s a strange place to come. There could have been 7 or 8 goals between both teams. We dodged some bullets. They dodged some bullets. It would have been interesting if we hit the penalty kick to get it to 3-2 but it just wasn’t our night. With the performance, I would say we deserve what we got in terms of the 6th seed. It is crazy that DC goes on the run that they go on. An incredible run. This conference this year has some great teams in it. New York City is incredible. We are in the company of some great teams right now.”
PHILADELPHIA UNION MIDFIELDER ALEJANDRO BEDOYA
Talk about the game…
“Well definitely not the start we wanted. We talked about matching their intensity because we knew they were going to come out firing, you know? They talked about it all week that they wanted to go out into the playoffs and get a win because their recent run of form wasn’t that great, but they’re still a good team at home obviously. So we just didn’t match their intensity and it wasn’t good enough. First goal off a set piece. That can’t happen. And the second goal, we struggled a little bit I guess in the first half with the wingers sitting in and staying compact and they caused some problems on the wings. They were able to get a ball across and unfortunately for us, we put the ball in the back of our net. And we’re down 2-0. So it was tough having to try and climb back up that mountain. But I gotta say, I’m pretty pleased with how we responded and I’m pretty pleased with how we did. I think we did well. We just didn’t score enough. If we were able to convert that penalty kick or even if I was able to do better. We were just unfortunate to not score in the second half because we looked better in the second half.
What has to happen in the playoff match…
“What has to happen? We can’t lose. We can’t let them score in the first 10 minutes. 2-0 down early in the game, that’s quite the hill to climb. Especially being away on their home field. We just have to do better defensively. We’ve been doing it away pretty well this whole season. But like I said, we’ve been struggling with our wingers and our outside backs with their guys checking to the ball and running behind us. So we gotta do better with that. You know, talking more. We just have to stay more compact in the middle and not let those easy balls between us and behind the lines and we’ll be fine. I think we showed that in the second half that we can play with this team. We know we can.”
PHILADELPHIA UNION MIDFIELDER FAFA PICAULT
On the loss..
“It’s kinda tough. When you go down that early on a pitch like this, it’s very difficult to handle it better in the second half. But, some things that could have been done better, like going down 2-0. You don’t ever want to go down 2-0 that early. Small errors and things that we need to fix quickly and get ready for next week.”
What was the reason for the slow start…
“I wouldn’t say it’s characteristic of us to go down that early. Nothing really to point out. Just bad errors… Bad errors. And we just don’t want to do that again.”
How do you fix this for next game…
“To not have a meltdown. It’s one game. It just so happens that it’s around playoffs, so maybe people outside of it are worried, but we just have to do our job. Coming up next week whomever we play against.
NYCFC Finish 3rd in Eastern Conference: Host Philadelphia Union on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in knockout round.
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