New York City Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing was full of praise for the ‘incredible’ City fans in Monday’s first round MLS Playoff win over Inter Miami CF.
The Boys in Blue stormed to a memorable victory at Citi Field with a sensational second half display, netting quickfire goals through Gabriel Pereira and Maxi Moralez, before Héber added the icing to the cake in injury time.
Despite a rainy night in Queens, the fans turned out in superb numbers, creating an electric atmosphere to spur the side onto the Conference Semifinals – an experience Cushing says he and the team loved every minute of.
“The fans were even better than I thought they would be – and I knew they would be special,” the Head Coach reflected.
“They give us energy, they give us passion... They drive us through the moments where Miami had a little bit of the ball or we missed chances, and maybe you can start to lose enthusiasm.
“It’s pretty miserable to stand out in the rain for an hour and a half so you have two choices: be miserable or cheer though it and our fans were incredible. We embraced it. Our fans come and watch us in the rain and the sun, and I thought the atmosphere was incredible.
“It’s a special stadium full of our special fans, and a real special moment at the end to be in front of them while they’re singing the songs, and we’re cheering and celebrating the win. It’s addictive – we want more of it.”
It was a thoroughly deserved victory for New York, who had dominated the chances in the opening 45 and had seen the woodwork rattled three times, but found themselves goalless at half-time.
With the squad inspired by the break, Cushing was pleased to see the offensive quality shine through in the second period, and was especially delighted to see his team string together a beautiful 19-pass move for Moralez’s strike, attributing the improvement in the final third to the players’ growing confidence.
“The goals come from a belief and a real collective buy-in into the way that we’re playing,” he explained.
“We do the same things, we continue to play the same way, we stick to the plan, we continue to push really hard and in the end, if you give the quality we have consistent looks at the goal, we’re going to score.
“That’s a real testament to the professionalism and collective thinking we have in the group that we continue to do the same things: switch the play, run the space in behind and continue to create chances.
“Of course, we’re really proud of that second goal. It’s a testament to the work we’ve put in over the last season, especially the team over the last ten weeks – the hard work we’ve put in to make sure we play together.
“We’ve managed to get that [consistency] with a healthy roster and if you do that, and you have guys playing with freedom, and they’re content and settled, you get goals like you see tonight and performances like you see tonight.”
Cushing also took a moment to pay respect to Miami Forward Gonzalo Higuaín, who played his final game in professional football before retiring.
“He’s a real special player, one of the great number nines to play our game,” the Head Coach added.
“You’ve seen that in Napoli and Juventus, and Real Madrid and Chelsea, and River – huge clubs, huge goals.
“For someone like me to be coaching a game that he plays in is special. It’s the level where our league is at that those type of players can come and play in our league, and not only do they impact our league but they raise the level of all the other guys.
“You see that tonight in our defenders – our three at the back with Alex Callens, Maxime Chanot and Thiago Martins – and I thought they defended the game exceptionally well.”
