New York City FC made it four wins in a row thanks to a 2-0 victory over Orlando City SC.
Here’s Managing Editor Mark Booth with Five Things We Learned…
Another Shutout
Domènec Torrent didn’t feel as though his team necessarily deserved to keep a clean sheet in the 2-0 road win over Orlando City on Thursday night but they did.
That made it four games in a row where City haven’t conceded a goal, a run which stretches back to the away game at Chicago at the end of June.
On this occasion, NYCFC were indebted to a mix of excellent goalkeeping from Sean Johnson, some staunch defending and just a little help from the woodwork which came to our rescue three times on the night.
Regardless of how we did it, that’s now 398 minutes without conceding, which is a record any team in any league would be proud of.
Lion Tamers
This latest victory over Orlando, our fourth in a row vs. our Expansion cousins, means that we now boast an identical record to The Lions in the head-to-head.
Over the course of the last 12 months, we’ve managed to even the score with Orlando without conceding a single goal in the last four meetings (10-0 goal differential).
That takes the head-to-head to 5W-3D-5L.
Leveling Out
Dome was left scratching his head as to how his side had lost on his only previous road game in Chicago.
10 crazy second half minutes undid all of City’s good work there, but this was a very different affair, as New York rode the Orlando wave in the second half to emerge with all three points.
It’s been a long wait for fans to tune in and watch a road win with this the first time we’ve won away from Yankee Stadium since the end of March.
It wasn’t NYCFC’s best performance of the season as they did have to soak up a lot of pressure after the interval but Torrent’s men have certainly earned a little luck on the road.
Maxi Shines Again
Maxi Moralez has scored in each of City’s three meetings with Orlando City in 2018, meaning the Floridian team will be glad to see the back of him.
Once again, the Argentine was at the heart of everything good about NYC on the night, leading defenders on a merry dance throughout the evening.
His goal, which levelled him with Isi Tajouri-Shradi and David Villa as team top-scorer with eight, was all about predatory instincts, reading the bounce of the ball after Rodney Wallace’s pressing saw the ball come back off the post.
Moralez now has four goals in his last 10 league appearances, after tallying nine in his first 40.
Is he NYCFC’s Player of the Season so far? Should he be in the MLS MVP conversation? Our resident Spidey is slinging a strong case.
TinnerBOOM x4
… and another man weighing in consistently with crucial goal is Anton Tinnerholm.
The Swede scored his fourth goal of, what is turning into, a phenomenal debut season from the former Malmo man, tying him with Phillipe Senderos and Larrys Mabiala as MLS’s most lethal defender.
In just half a season, he’s become NYCFC’s highest-scoring defender of all-time too, scoring his four goals in just 1,557 minutes.
This one was all about finesse as Anton broke into the box, took the touch to get the ball out of his feet and arced the ball sublimely past Earl Edwards Jr’s despairing dive.
We’ll say it again… what a signing!
