New York City Football Club take on DC United on Wednesday night.
Here are the Keys to the Match, presented by Ford.
We Fight To the End
Speaking after Sunday’s trip to Orlando City, Nicolás Acevedo stated that after a defeat, there’s nothing a player wants more than to get straight back out onto the pitch, eager to set things right.
The Boys in Blue have that chance on Wednesday with the visit of DC United and the Uruguayan Midfielder says his team are already counting down the minutes to kickoff and are pulling together in a bid to turn things around.
“That’s the best thing – that we’re able to go at it again on Wednesday and get a revenge,” he declared.
“The team always fights to the end. Unfortunately, things didn’t go our way [on Sunday]. As a team, we’re all working hard and we’re working together to get the results we want. We keep working as a team to look to what we want to accomplish this season.
“The team is still together. We are in high spirits. Obviously, the results haven’t been the ones we wanted but that’s the highs and lows of the season we have to go through.
“We’re playing for the Championship – that’s our main objective and we’re doing everything possible to achieve that. We have the right team and the right personnel in our squad to achieve that so we’re going to continue to keep looking for that.
“We’re looking forward to playing DC. We’ll recover and rest, and get out on the training pitch, and then we will give it our all on Wednesday.
“There are a couple of adjustments we need to make to get to where we want to be but we’re looking forward to finishing the season strongly and looking towards the playoffs.”
Ace v DC
New York head into the clash with a strong record against DC, having won 10 and drawn three of our 18 meetings.
We last met in May, as the Boys in Blue claimed a 2-0 victory in Washington, thanks to goals from Alex Callens and Taty Castellanos. Last season, we registered 2-1 and 6-0 triumphs over the Black-and-Red – the latter marking our biggest ever win.
Thiago Andrade scored in both 2021 games – in the first and 95th minutes of play. His injury-time effort was a superb blistering run and composed finish in the final seconds from a Sean Johnson throw-out to snatch all three points.
DC currently sit bottom of the Eastern Conference with 17 losses from their 27 games and are winless in their last six. They have lost their last four, including a five-goal thriller last time out against Atlanta. Former Manchester United Midfielder Ravel Morrison was on the scoresheet in that game, while Belgian Forward Christian Benteke is set to make his debut at Red Bull Arena.
There’s also the interesting subplot on Wednesday of the Manchester City v Manchester United connection, with New York City Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing and former Manchester United Forward Wayne Rooney going head-to-head in the technical area.
A Difficult Period
Cushing admitted the Boys in Blue are enduring a ‘difficult period’ with a disappointing run of results and frustrating injury situation. Against Orlando, as we welcomed back the return of Maxi Moralez, Thiago Martins was forced off with a knock – the severity of which is as yet unknown.
With a limited roster to choose from and players having to deputize in unfamiliar positions, plus limited time in the midst of a heavy fixture schedule in the coming weeks, it’s a testing time for the squad.
The Head Coach and Acevedo both spoke of the importance of togetherness and fight, as the MLS Cup Champions seek to get back on track at a crucial time. It will take a real squad effort but there’s no doubt the players and staff are up to the task.
The latest team news will be shared right here on NYCFC.com on Tuesday but there is guaranteed to be one welcome boost with Santiago Rodríguez set to return following his suspension.
