New York City FC made it seven points from the three-game week thanks to a 1-1 draw with Orlando City SC on Saturday.
Here’s Five Points from another solid outing in the Bronx…
Seven Days, Seven Points
While we couldn’t quite make it nine points from nine, Dome Torrent revealed that City walked away from Yankee Stadium satisfied after a grueling week.
Torrent said: “Today we deserved more and get the 3 points, but it’s not so bad for us because we had three games in a row, in seven days. If you compare right now to one month ago, we play much better and it’s because they understand the way we want play.”
The road win over D.C. kicked off this three-game whirlwind in style, before the Boys in Blue dispatched Chicago in midweek and rounded off with this come-from-behind draw vs. Orlando.
While the squad will feel they did enough to clinch all three points, two out of three ain’t bad and NYCFC are just above the Playoffs line in seventh after nine games.
Héber’s First BX Goal
It’s been a great seven days for NYC’s latest no.9.
The Brazilian has been directly involved with City’s last four goals, creating two and scoring his first two #ForTheCity.
Héber took some time before he was ready to contribute after coming back from an injury sustained in Croatia before he joined the Club, but now he’s up to full speed, NYCFC are getting full benefit from the Brazilian.
He’s enjoying himself, too, as he told reporters following this 1-1 draw with Orlando.
Héber said: “I’m very happy to score the goal to give us this. To play good is more important. When you work hard, when you give everything on the pitch, everything comes. My teammates also helped me a lot, they were very welcoming, and they helped me a lot to push myself as hard as I can and hopefully, I’ll keep [playing] like that and continue scoring.”
Hard to Beat
Another draw, yes – a sixth tied game of the young season.
Dome will be eager to turn one point into three with more regularity as the season goes on but, to look at it another way, NYCFC are proving difficult to defeat.
No team in the Eastern Conference has been beaten fewer times than New York and since Minnesota we’ve only conceded one goal in the last three games, which shows that defensively, things are clicking.
With the forward line also beginning to find connections with the returns to fitness for the likes of Taty Castellanos, Héber, Maxi Moralez, Alexandru Mitriță and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Torrent will be looking to build on these solid foundations on the road in the coming games.
Ofori the City
Another big contributor to NYCFC’s upturn in form has been the form of Ebenezer Ofori.
Because of his role in the team, the Ghanaian may fly under the radar but his willingness to put out fires and press relentlessly has been key to the little unbeaten streak that we’re on.
Alongside Alex Ring, Eben has been an important cog in the midfield engine room and could be a solid contender for the April Player of the Month vote…
Next Up…
With no home games on the horizon until June 6, NYCFC now go on the road for a succession of matches, starting with Montreal on Saturday.
The Impact held City to a goalless draw at Yankee Stadium earlier in April after a tight, cagey game with few clear chances for either side.
Montreal are one of the Eastern Conference’s in-form teams, with Remi Garde taking the Canadian outfit up to the summit of the standings, thanks to their victory over Chicago this last weekend.
It won’t be easy, but New York will go into the match with confidence, according to one of the season’s breakout stars, James Sands.
Sands said: “I think our most recent game on the road was one of our best so far this season. So I think that gives us a lot of confidence going into our away stretch and I think if we can just start taking points on the road then it’ll be good for us.”
