NYCFC win the match 3-1 ATL
The NYCFC continues to have matches on raining and cold day, but that doesn’t effect City to clinch victory of styles and between two of the league’s great entertainers in the buildup and it did not disappoint for a second, with chances for both sides in the early minutes.
The boys in blue who first went close to drawing first blood when Maxime Chanot turned the loose ball from a corner towards goal on 8’ but Alec Kann made the sprawling save.
In an entertaining end-to-end opening to the game with plenty of quality on show from both sides but, predictably, it was the captain who broke the deadlock, celebrating his new contract extension in typically potent style.
With a goal that was reminiscent of his first-ever for NYCFC, Villa exchanged passes with Rodney Wallace following some nimble interplay and planted the ball beyond Kann, firing in off the inside of the post.
#FromDayOne, indeed…
Despite a dominant opening half where the home team spent long stretches camped out in the Atlanta defensive third, Carlos Carmona found the equalizer against the run of play on 38’ with a rocket of his own – a stinging volley in off the woodwork from the top of the box.
NYCFC gave a good response to that concession, almost retaking the lead in the last seconds of the first period through Alexander Callens but his curling effort narrowly missed the outside of the post, meaning we went in at the break level.
To say Vieira’s men made a fast start to the second period would be an understatement as, within a minute of the restart, Wallace and Villa shared a flurry of three quickfire shots which either hit the woodwork or were blocked on line in a crazy goalmouth scramble.
Wallace atoned for those missed chances in some style on 60’ when he arrived at the back post to turn in a cross from Ethan White who had overlapped to great effect on the right flank.
Back in front, NYCFC would not be brought back again by Gerardo Martino’s talented side, scoring the vital third goal through Maxi Moralez just a minute later.
It was Wallace who turned provider this time, flicking the ball beautifully into Maxi’s path to create the one-on-one and Moralez’s finish was unerring, curling it around the onrushing goalkeeper.
Finally, Vieira’s men had the advantage their play had merited and they didn’t let it slip, climbing to third place in the Eastern Conference.
On David Villa and Rodney Wallace… “I think David (Villa) is an important player for us, and when he plays the way he played today lifting the team, he is one of our leaders. When he plays like he did today, the confidence builds in the team and that’s why it’s important for him to be at this level every single game. It’s good for the team, and I think when you have a really good structure and you have people around working hard, that really expresses talent – and the same for Rodney (Wallace). There’s a reason why we brought him to our football club. His work ethic is fantastic. He’s putting the team before himself. He’s doing the dirty work for the team, and in the end he’s getting rewarded with the goal. He’s worked really hard and I think it’s not just about them two. If you want to win against a team like Atlanta, you need people to be at their best and today every player was at their best and we put out a really strong performance today.”
On Rodney Wallace’s persistence after being denied three times within the first minute of the second half…
“I think he showed how tough he is and how strong he is in his mind because he covered a lot of ground and he’s always at the right place to score goals or help the team. His work ethic is fantastic. When you look at his career, he won the title in this country. He went abroad. He had a tough time, and the majority of people might give up and do something else. He believed in himself and kept working hard in training, and there’s a reason why he’s in the starting eleven.”
