NYCFC loss over NE Revolution
With eight players ruled out through injury and international duty, it was a real test of depth for NYCFC in this second meeting with the Revs in 2018.
It was Ronald Matarrita who created City’s first meaningful opportunity of the night on 5’ with a determined run which led to his cross being deflected off the crossbar.
That set the tone for a strong but fruitless first half for City, with the first 45’ resembling a shooting gallery at times, with New England ‘keeper Brad Knighton called into action on numerous occasions as the Boys in Blue took 11 shots on goal, with four on frame.
However, it was one of the off target shots which went closest on 16’ – a 25 yard free-kick from David Villa which just whistled past the post with Knighton flying across his goal.
August Etihad Player of the Month nominee Sebastien Ibeagha was also inches away from his first goal for the Club courtesy of a towering header which just went past the post.
New England only made it into the NYC penalty box once in the first half, on 25’, when Brian Wright struck the inside of the post, reminding City of the potential cost of spurning more goalscoring chances.
Despite all those opportunities in the final third, the teams went in at the break level but Torrent would’ve been the happier head coach on the balance of play.
The pattern of the game carried through the interval with NYCFC on top and it was Taty Castellanos’ turn to rue a missed chance shortly after the restart when he was played through by Matarrita, but the Argentine youngster took too long to get his shot away and was dispossessed in the nick of time.
Taty was in the center of things again on 56’ when the home side were denied a penalty after Castellanos’s shot struck the hand of a New England defender but following a video review, a corner was given.
Further chances followed, taking City’s shot count up to 22 but it was New England who scored with their sixth attempt of the night.
Wright reacted first after Sean Johnson beat out an initial attempt from Cristian Penilla to give the Revs the lead against the run of play.
With time running out to find an equalizer, Torrent sent on Jonathan Lewis, the man who scored the last minute winner last time New England visited Yankee Stadium, but this time there was to be no thrilling conclusion.
The unbeaten home record is gone and there’s not much time to put things right before in-form D.C. United arrive in the Big Apple.
NOTES
- James Sands made his first MLS start for NYCFC
- NYCFC lost at home for the first time this season
- Alex Ring will miss Saturday’s game vs. D.C. United as a result of yellow card accumulation
QUOTES
NYCFC HEAD COACH DOMÈNEC TORRENT
On whether he is concerned that the team has lost its way with only two wins in the last seven games…
“I think you talk about the result and not the way we play here. Today the soccer wasn’t fair with us and today our team played really well. I’m not happy with the result but I’m happy with the way we were able to play. The last game we played very bad. I am angry with them, but today they wanted to win the game. When we lost in Columbus it was because we played really, really bad and I think we played well tonight. I’m not happy but I’m not worried about the result because today they played really well. The difference is you have to be clinical when you have the chance. I’m not angry with them but I agree, when you look at the sport in general it’s about the result, not the play. Right now the battle is not over for us.”
On whether he thinks NYCFC earn a bye in the playoffs…
“We will try to because that’s our job. We lost two games in a row, but we will try to do [it]. Right now we have six games, but I will try to improve. Tonight we [wanted] to win the game but sometimes it’s not possible. If we play the way we did tonight maybe we can do something special in the MLS, but not in the last game [vs Columbus).”
On James Sands performance tonight…
“It was a shame for Jimmy because he deserved to win the game because for me he played really, really well. Jimmy is our future here. I’m very happy for Jimmy. For me he played really well and I can say that he will play the next game.”
NYCFC MIDFIELDER JAMES SANDS
On his performance today…
“I thought I did well. Obviously the result wasn’t great, but you’ve gotta start somewhere and there’s definitely stuff I can take away from this. There’s some stuff I did well, but there’s also some things I can work on and improve for next time.”
On his conversation post-game with Dome…
“He said he was happy, but he said there’s obviously stuff I did well, but stuff I can still work on. I think he was happy with the way it started.”
On the different shape of the team…
“It was a new shape, but as a team you have to deal with all the people who are gone, who are injured, so I think it’s just something every team has to go through and every team has to adapt to.”
On coach saying he’ll start next game…
“It makes me happy to hear that he has that confidence in me. Like I said before, I don’t want to stop working and I think I can still do a lot better. I’m excited.”
On getting more comfortable throughout the game…
“That was definitely part of it and I also think I kind of played that way because how they were playing. They came out with a lot of energy, but no team can do that for 90 minutes and stuff started to open up as the game went on.”
On the team not finishing chances today…
“Obviously it’s tough, but I think if you look on the bright side of things, we did create a lot of chances. On another day we would get those goals, so I think there’s definitely positives, but we just have to take our chances next time.”
NYCFC GOALKEEPER SEAN JOHNSON
On maintaining the good things from today’s game on Saturday…
“The game of football is crazy. Some days it feels like you just weren’t meant to win and we have to grab games by the neck when we get opportunities on both sides of the ball. I think we we’re coming up with big plays on both sides and I have no doubt that if we create the same amount of opportunities, we’ll score three, four, five goals on another night. We played well enough to walk off that field victorious tonight, so it’s really easy to find the positive in tonight and the way we played, especially in the last couple minutes, but the final product is all that really matters in this game. New England walks away with the result today after not playing particularly well and that’s all that really matters, results. We just have to figure out a way to get results.”
On maintaining pressure and energy with upcoming road games…
“We’ll figure it out. We’re in a position now where, thankfully, we’ve picked up a decent amount of points early on, but we’ve got to keep going. Things are getting tighter down the stretch, so figuring out how to win on the road is going to be huge going into the playoffs. Hopefully we put ourselves in a position where we get to play home and away, that’s what we’re really focusing on now. If not the first spot, the second spot, that’s what we’ve got to be gunning for and we’ve got to do ourselves justice. We’ve had three games now where it’s been in our lap to get results and we could be six to nine points further than we are now and that’s what sucks about it.”
NEW YORK CITY FC DEFENDER ALEXANDER CALLENS
On coming back from injury…
“Yes, they gave me the clearance yesterday. I’ve only been training with the team for two days, but I don’t think that showed on the field. I think on the field I came out well, I competed well, and played well.”
On today’s game…
“Yes, we’re upset. It’s our first loss at home this season. I don’t think they were superior to us tonight, but this is soccer.”
NEW ENGLAND HEAD COACH BRAD FRIEDEL
How do you feel about the win…
“We always give the effort. That’s unquestionable. We played far better in this run. If not getting wins and then lost the games and tied the games. Tonight, the first half, we were fortunate to be 0-0 at halftime. Although we did hit the post as well, but I think they were the better team. I think that we defended balls into the box very, very well.”
What did you see from Isaac Angking…
“He’s had a rough go of things from preseason getting sick and then coming back into full training and then we had to sort of build his body back up and break it back down. And now he’s strong. So that’s good and hopefully we can start seeing more and more minutes from him, so that’s good. He’s going to go into the under 19’s under 20 national team tomorrow, so hopefully he’ll get a couple more games under him and he’ll come back to us with much needed minutes under his belt as we go into our last stretch of games.”
Does this win give you momentum moving forward…
“We need confidence I would say. I mean, one game, momentum we’ll see. If we beat LAFC next, then we’ll have some momentum going. From the first day that we started the team, even in training session, we’ve never given up. We’re not going to give up. We still have a game in hand over Montreal and we play them, so that will put our destinys in our own hands. In regards to D.C. we need one more team to do us a favor and maybe NYCFC can do us a favor in their next game. And then everything will be in our own court. We’ve got Toronto to play yet. We’ve got Atlanta to play yet. We’ve got Chicago to play yet. So there’s a lot of big games to come and an exciting end of the season.”
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION GOALKEEPER BRAD KNIGHTON
Importance of the win tonight…
“It’s a really big point in our season. For us to come here, they haven’t lost at home here all season. And for us to get three points and get out of here is something special for this group and something that we can build on moving forward.”
How did you feel in your first start…
“Yeah, it’s massive. Anytime you get a touch early or make an impact in the game early, you kind of get settled in. Get your feet under you. And then you’re back to doing what you’ve been doing forever. Thankfully I was fortunate enough to get a touch and the guys in front of me put in an incredible shift tonight. The testament goes to them with Brian [Wright] getting his first goal.”
How do you feel about your chances of making the postseason…
“We feel like everything is in our control. We have a game in hand tonight on a couple of teams. And we got the three points tonight and they didn’t. So now we get the weekend off and have a massive game next weekend in LA. So, obviously we have a handful of games left on the road this season, so we’re going to try to pick up where we left off here tonight and try to pick up some more points towards the end of the season.”
Do you feel like you guys have something to prove…
“We’’ve got a whole locker room of guys looking to prove something. You know, there’s only 11 positions and for the guys that have been getting in there, it’s good for them. But for the guys that have been chomping at their bits, it’s good to get games and get minutes, but they have to prove it when they get out there. So it’s up for the manager to make those decisions and he does it in the best interest of the team and we’re just looking forward to next weekend.”
NEW ENGLAND MIDFIELDER ISAAC ANGKING
On how special it was to make it back to this point from injury…
“That’s a good question. It was a long experience, I went through injury which was pretty tough. I’m glad to be back out. Got the win with my team, got the victory that’s all that matters right now, that’s all I’m thinking about right now.”
On what was going through Angking’s head when he stepped out onto the field…
“Thank you to everyone who supported me. I tried to prove as much as I can. Hopefully, I did as much as I can.”
On what it means for the staff to have confidence in Angking…
“It mean they have great confidence in me, they know I can prove myself no matter what kind of situation I’m in. That’s what really matters right now.”
On the timing of tonight’s win…
“This is definitely one of the critical moments. It’s just the start, there’s more games to come. This is a victory but we have to put this aside for us and prepare for the other games coming up.”
NEW ENGLAND FORWARD BRIAN WRIGHT
On his first MLS start…
“Unbelievable feeling to have my teammates [welcome me] when I came back into the locker room, amazing feeling. To get a start, like I was saying, kind of anxious before the game started but as the whistle blows, those things go out of the way. As the game was going on, I thought I had a good game today. I had an ok first half. Good talk at half, we talked about what we needed to do. I thought, obviously being on the run we’ve been on – not being able to pick up a result, we did a really good job of withstanding a lot of pressure and taking a lot of shots today. It shows the grit we really do have and hopefully we can go on a run from here.”
On maintaining confidence as a striker after missed opportunities…
“They say strikers got to have a short memory. Having my teammates also out there encouraging me, all the guys, the veterans telling me to keep going and keep doing what I’m doing well, [is what kept me motivated] essentially.”
On his goal…
“I knew I was about to come off. Someone said to me to just follow shots in and the keeper cleared the ball right to me and I just got my left foot right through. It was an unbelievable feeling to be quite honest, knowing it was the game-winner but also to help the team. I know people are out right now – suspended, hurt and whatnot – it feels good to step in to the role that Teal [Bunbury] has been doing all season, and a great job for us and show that we do have some depth on this team.”
On the timing of this victory…
“It’s unbelievable. We’re sitting six points behind Montreal and at the same time we haven’t won a game in almost two months. So the fact that we’re still in it is unbelievable and we talked about that early this week in training. They say teams in MLS that do well in playoffs are teams that catch fire toward the end so we’re hoping that we’ll use that momentum and keep it going on the road.”
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