New York City Football Club clinched third spot in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 win at Atlanta United.
Here are Five Points from the game in Georgia...
Decision Day
Though there was little on the line in this encounter with City having already booked passage into the playoffs and Atlanta unable to qualify, Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing had highlighted the importance of momentum heading into the post-season tournament.
On the back of three successive wins, NYCFC were riding the crest of the wave and wanted to head into next weekend's first round fixture on a high, regardless of who the opponent would prove to be. Having also never won at Mercedes-Benz Arena, there was added motivation.
That desire was evident from the outset with Cushing opting to make just one change to the side that defeated Orlando (Keaton Parks for Santiago Rodríguez) with the decision to favor consistency in a bid to build momentum, and although three points were not essential, the squad battled to preserve them with each player striving to take their chance to shine.
Beautiful Football
Thriving on the confidence of our recent resurgence, New York came flying out of the blocks and broke the deadlock inside the opening 10 minutes with a goal of pure brilliance.
It was a delightfully-crafted move to carve open the Atlanta defense, as Keaton Parks, Talles Magno, and Gabriel Pereira combined well with a flowing, intelligent attacking move which ended with Pereira latching into an inch-perfect through-ball and clipping expertly over Raúl Gudiño.
It was a perfect example of City playing football the right way, and every player involved was simply on the same wavelength - further evidence that the squad is gelling on the pitch at just the right time and bearing the fruits of Cushing's philosophy.
Injury Blows
Another challenge awaits for the Boys in Blue on the roster front.
Just when the MLS Cup Champions had gained full strength with players having made welcome comebacks, there was a triple setback at Mercedes-Benz Arena with Tayvon Gray, Talles Magno and the returning Alfredo Morales all forced off with knocks.
Though the severity of their injuries is yet to be determined, there was encouraging news in the post-match press conference with Cushing suggesting they may not yet be ruled out of contention for the playoffs. With a full team effort needed to defend our trophy, fingers crossed for quick returns.
Safe Hands
While Andrew Gutman’s second-half strike may have denied goalkeeper Sean Johnson the 2022 MLS Golden Glove, the USMNT captain showed just how important his is to this NYCFC team, producing two superb saves late on to preserve the points.
As Atlanta piled on the pressure, twice the City captain got down low to thwart Gutman and then star-shooter Josef Martínez, with strong hands to claw away the danger.
With 14 shut-outs this term, Johnson has played a key role in our campaign and while he may not have collected the league prize, his contribution is certainly recognized by those who don Bronx blue.
Inter Miami Await
Our third-place finish clinched a match-up with the team who claimed sixth in the Eastern Conference: Inter Miami CF.
The Floridians, who joined MLS in 2020, ended the regular season campaign with a 3-1 defeat to CF Montréal but had gone into that fixture on the back of four successive victories to earn a place in the 2022 playoffs.
City can take heart from our previous encounters with four wins from our five meetings, including a 2-0 home triumph in July, and will be hoping to make home advantage count in the first round at Red Bull Arena.
The clash is scheduled for Monday, October 17, at Red Bull Arena, kickoff at 7:00PM ET, with coverage on FS1 and Fox Deportes.
You can purchase tickets to the game here.
