The City Boys got the job done on Saturday evening in Cincinnati. Here’s how it happened, presented by Etihad Airways…
Get Well Soon, Jimmy
The lone dose of disappointment that came with Saturday night’s win was another injury for James Sands. Dome provided the update on his all-important stalwart after the match:
The young man the head coach calls “Jimmy” was only winning an Academy National Championship a little over a year ago. So while he’s grown into a big time player for a big time team, and the squad will surely miss the way he plays soccer, it is a certainty that he will only come back stronger from this latest set back.
A Tale of Two Strikers
The Boys in Blue were led by an Argentina-Brazil link up of massive proportions. Taty Castellanos and Héber Araujo dos Santos combined with a brace each to produce NYC’s four goal output on the night at Nippert Stadium.
The quality of the strikes only amplified their timeliness. Taty’s instant answer to FC Cincy’s early opener and Héber’s go ahead goal deep in first-half stoppage time painted the perfect picture of the squad’s resilience on the road to a fifth away victory of Season 5. That puts City’s out of home record at 5-4-4, an impressive output with a string of Yankee Stadium dates on deck in The Bronx.
The strikers are certainly starting to heat up in tandem. Héber’s heroics have him in the team lead with 12, while Taty’s two give him four in the last three matches.
Hear the man H9 speak on it amidst a peppering of questions from the media after the match:
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
When Maxi is on the scene, great things happen. His two assists on the night put him at a league-leading 16 on the season so far, and with one web handed out to Taty and Héber each, the number 10 is surely licking his chops at the prospect of the South American strike partnership continuing to grow.
Expect beautiful football on Wednesday and Saturday night in The Bronx next week.
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Johnson Saves Penalties
We could count all the times Sean John has come up big until we are even bluer in the face – but let’s just take another look at the latest.
A penalty save in the 24th minute highlighted another otherwise outstanding outing for the veteran MLS keeper, and although Cincy would grab the opener shortly thereafter, it was a big moment that gave NYC some early footing on slippery turf.
Let’s watch it again:
And like all good leaders – he’s already on to the next:
The Ringleader is The Reason
Fact: Alex Ring is really good at soccer.
Our Captain’s bag is just different. He does it all for our side, and on this night it was his bossing of the park that was needed as much as his unending quality on the ball or elite passing range.
This night showed time after time that our leaders are more locked in than ever.
Looking forward, New York City FC returns to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday for Queens Borough Night vs. Columbus Crew SC.
Keep it rollin’.
