New York City FC 1
New England Revolution 1
McNamara 10 mins
Tierney 38 mins
Red Card Khoffie 51 mins
Match Recap
With a couple of new faces featuring thanks to players being called away on international duty, New York City FC played New England to a 1-1 draw despite New England playing down a man for almost 30 minutes.
NYCFC were first to make the breakthrough in the tenth minute of the game, as Man of the Match Tommy McNamara reacted first to a David Villa strike that went off the crossbar, McNamara headed the ball into the back of the net to give NYCFC the early lead.
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New England equalized in the 38th minute with Chris Tierney hitting a free kick from the edge of the box that took a wicked deflection past Josh Saunders sending the teams in level at the break.
In the 51st minute New England midfielder Gershon Koffie made an unadvised foul against McNamara and drew a red card which reduced the Revolution to only 10 men for the rest of the match.
In the 90th Minute, Tony Taylor lofted a pass into the box which found the head of Patrick Mullins but was saved by Bobby Shuttlesworth.
Only a minute later, McNamara found himself outside the box and fired a shot on net, but the shot went wide and the final whistle blew as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
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Photo of the match:
How they lined up:
Coach Viera stuck with the 3-2-2-3 formation that brought everything except a goal in the last game against Orlando. With Ronald Mataritta, Mix Diskerud and Khiry Shelton away on international duty, speedy winger Steven Mendoza came in for a first start after impressing in two substitute appearances, while fan-favorite Kwadwo Poku lined up alongside Tommy McNamara behind the front three.
Viera made a tactical change as early as the 28th minute as he switched to a back four, taking off Jefferson Mena and bringing on Argentine defender Diego Martinez to make his MLS debut, with Bravo dropping back into defense.
PHOTOS: New York City FC vs. New England Revolutions
After the break coach Viera reacted to New England going down to ten men by bringing on Patrick Mullins for some extra attacking menace in the 67th minute.
The third and final change arrived on 77 minutes as midfielder Medhi Ballouchy came on for Kwadwo Poku who had worked hard in midfield.
Quote of the match:
Key moment:
In the 75th minute, New England forward Charlie Davies found himself on a breakaway and got around Josh Saunders. Davies fired a shot at an open net, but midfielder Federico Bravo jumped in front of the goal and cleared the ball off the backline to keep the match even, as the home crowd released a sigh of relief.
Stats and milestones…
- Diego Martinez made his NYCFC debut, Kwadwo Poku and Jefferson Mena made their season debut, while Steven Mendoza made his first NYCFC start
- Tommy McNamara has scored two goals this season both goals were scored in the 10th minute
- For McNamara it was the first time in his MLS career that he scored a goal with his head
- It is the first time in franchise history that NYCFC has tied with New England
- In their four meetings, three of those matches had a player draw a straight red card
Man of the Match:
Tommy McNamara
McNamara ran himself into the ground for the home side’s cause, notching his second goal of the season with an opportunistic header to give NYCFC a first-half lead from a rebound.
He continued to be a constant source of worry to New England’s defense after the break with several fierce shots from in and around the penalty area that required opposition keeper Bobby Shuttleworth to be in top form. Tommy Mac was also fouled by the Revs’ Gershon Koffie which resulted in a straight red card for the Ghanaian. He almost won the game before the final whistle with the last of his attempts on goal, but could only find the side netting.
Tweet of the Match
