New York City FC inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Toronto FC in Connecticut last night.
Here’s Five Points from a good night’s work, presented by Etihad…
Domination
For Head Coach Ronny Deila, 2020's four matches against Toronto FC have provided solid indicators to judge where his team has been at in this most unusual of years.
Back in March, a 1-0 defeat to Greg Vanney’s men perhaps slightly flattered NYCFC as a new Head Coach was still trying to implement his new ideas into the squad but it’s been a very different story since.
At the MLS is Back Tournament and even in the 1-0 defeat at Red Bull Arena, Deila’s side dominated the matches and that was the case once again last night as the Boys in Blue got the W to tie the seasonal series 2-2.
In Deila’s words: “We have enough chances to win more than 1-0. I think boys did a really good performance. After we got outplayed by Toronto in March, we’ve played them three times since and we’ve been at the level.
“That shows us we’re taking steps all the time.”
Top Four Race
It’s really heating up at the Eastern Conference standings summit now with just two games remaining for NYCFC before the MLS Playoffs.
These last two wins against Canadian opposition have propelled us back into the reckoning for home field advantage in our opening postseason match, with NYCFC breathing down Columbus and Orlando necks.
Just two points separate us from one of those top four berths and although we have one fewer games to close the gap than our rivals have to solidify theirs, the remaining games should make it interesting.
Columbus and Orlando face one another next midweek in a game which could have big implications, while the Crew will also meet Atlanta and Philadelphia. Orlando face Montreal and Nashville.
This one could go to the wire…
Max 100
It was a big night for Maxime Chanot as the Luxembourg international defender returned to the lineup after suspension and contributed to a clean sheet in his 100th MLS game for NYCFC.
The center back has been an integral member of this squad since joining the Club in 2016 and has now joined an elite and exclusive pack of players who’ve defined what it means to be a New York City FC player over these last years.
This year alone, Alex Callens, Sean Johnson, Ronald Matarrita, Maxi Moralez and Alex Ring have all passed this milestone which, in MLS, is no small feat given usual squad turnovers.
Here’s to many more for all…
Jesús Scores
The goal was simple enough, calling upon Jesús Medina’s predatory instincts to follow up the rebound from Taty Castellanos’s shot, but this was an all-around great performance from the Paraguayan.
Voted Heineken Man of the Match by supporters on Twitter, Medina was a live wire all night, keeping the ball moving intelligently and providing more than one incisive through ball to teammates to run onto behind the Reds’ defense.
Now joint-top scorer for NYCFC in the regular season with four, there was a confidence to Medina’s play on Wednesday night which indicated he could be an important player for City going into the Playoffs.
Derby Day
Next up, it’s time to try and dose out some revenge to our local rivals Red Bulls following a controversial defeat on our last match against them.
All the way back in August in the first fanless match post-bubble, we lost out 1-0 to a highly suspect call when it was deemed the ball had crossed the line from Danny Royer’s shot.
Since that match, NYCFC have pulled clear of Red Bulls in the standings and will look to now level the seasonal head-to-head and to extend a proud record against this opponent in the BX.
