New York City FC defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Here’s Five Points from a return to winning ways at Yankee Stadium…
Bounce Back BX
Later than we hoped, but fitting all the same... NYCFC clinched their first home win of the season on Bronx Borough Night and secured back-to-back victories for the first time in Season 5.
On a night when we celebrated the Borough we call home in fine style, with superstar Bronx rappers and the NYC First Lady in attendance, Taty Castellanos scored the night’s only goal early to send 21,000 New Yorkers home happy with three more points.
It should have been a wider winning margin on the balance of play but following frustrating home outings vs. D.C., LAFC and Montreal, this was a perfectly acceptable way to throw off the shackles and build off Sunday’s huge road win in the Capital.
Getting it Done
Maxi Moralez will rue his missed penalty in stoppage time but the Argentine won’t be alone in thinking he should have made the scoreline more emphatic in New York’s favor.
Sean Johnson hardly had a shot to save over the 90’ as Chicago hunkered deep and challenged their hosts to break them down.
With Bastian Schweinsteiger deployed in the heart of the Fire backline, it wasn’t an easy task to create clear openings but there were opportunities to make the final minutes more comfortable viewing, with Moralez also hitting the crossbar and Héber going close on a couple of occasions.
Despite the slender win, Dome Torrent emphasized that it’s a test of stamina in three-game week and the Head Coach left Yankee Stadium satisfied with a professional performance and another three points.
Staying Calm
Back to back wins but captain Alex Ring rejected the idea that anything has changed behind the scenes at NYCFC to spark this upturn in results.
Ring revealed after the game that the squad always stayed calm and patient, believing that positive results were a matter of time in spite of the winless opening to 2019.
Ring said: “We stayed patient. We stayed calm. I understand the fans and media are a bit nervous but it’s about believing in what we do, in ourselves.
“Finally, we’re getting the points we should have taken earlier, already. It’s all about getting confidence up and playing with that intensity and then it’s going to be hard to beat us.”
Finding Connections
Competition for places and a wealth of options across the pitch are vital ingredients for successful teams. On the evidence of the last few games in D.C. and Minnesota, as well as here at home vs. Chicago, NYC has reason to believe they have both - especially in the final third.
With Mitriță out, fit-again Taty Castellanos slid straight back into the XI and scored for consecutive games for the first time in his City career.
That goal proved to be the winner on a night where Torrent was afforded the luxury of keeping Ismael Tajouri-Shradi on the bench, fresh for Saturday, after the ankle injury he sustained before D.C.
With Hèber completing an assist for the second game in a row and earning the MOTM award, it looks like NYCFC are finding connections in the final third which could help the team continue to climb the standings.
Quick Turnaround
No time to dwell too long on this win, Orlando are in town on Saturday for another Bronx battle- City’s third game in six days.
It’s going to be another big test of our endurance against an Orlando side who had no midweek assignments but you can be sure NYCFC will be ready to go again against a familiar rival.
On the season’s opening day, Torrent's men squandered a two-goal lead in Florida and walked away with only a point.
This time, NYCFC will be eager to clinch all three and secure a nine-point week.
