New York City Football Club are back at Yankee Stadium Saturday afternoon as they welcome the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Boys in Blue return to action in a 3:30pm ET kick-off at Yankee Stadium.
Here are the Keys to the Match, presented by Ford…
Go Again
Wednesday night was an important one for NYCFC. The Boys in Blue came up big and secured a result that matched their performance. Goals from Andres Jasson and Mounsef Bakrar paved the way to a 2-0 victory and halved the point gap between themselves and Chicago Fire.
Nick Cushing didn’t want to take his eyes off the real prize, however, and was keen to stress this was just the first step on the journey the team has to take to be part of the playoffs. Vancouver Whitecaps represent the next important milestone, and the message is simple; go again.
The team need to be as sharp as they were against Montréal, and if they can find that same level of performance they will be well on their way to claiming another vital three points.
Road Team
It’s been a busy week for the Vancouver Whitecaps and Vanni Sartini. The Blue and White are in the midst of back-to-back road games this week that started with a trip to Chicago on Wednesday to face the Fire. The Whitecaps emerged from that encounter with all three points thanks to a first-half goal from Brian White.
The playoff race in the Western Conference is proving tight, and those three points mean Vancouver sits in 5th-place, five points and a game in hand, over 10th-place Austin FC, just below the line.
Although Sartini’s side will be buoyed by their midweek success, every Head Coach in MLS knows the challenges that road games in MLS can present.
When you sandwich two together in the space of a few days those obstacles multiply, and the hope will be that NYCFC can make the most of that on Saturday before they step away for the international break.
Finish Strong
A congested two weeks for NYCFC has seen them play four games and travel to Ohio and back. Following Saturday’s game the international break begins and that will afford the players and staff two weeks to rest, recharge, and continue working on team chemistry as well as their plan of attack for the games that remain.
Cushing has spoken of the importance of five consecutive home games, and the next major step in that involves securing a win on Saturday.
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