A long trip with three games in three different time zones ended in the best possible way for New York City FC, which had a decisive 3-0 win at Orlando City Sunday night.
“I’m really proud of the players because it wasn’t easy because traveling and playing the last two games where we didn’t get the result we wanted,” NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira said in the post-match press conference. “But I think today we came over here with a lot of personality, a lot of desire to compete and at the end we fully deserved to go back to New York with the three points.”
Vieira said there wasn’t a big difference between his side’s performance in their first-ever win over Orlando City and the last two times they played their Eastern Conference rivals this season.
“I think the way we played today was quite similar than the last two games,” Vieira said. “I think we worked much better from up front, as a team we defended much better today. But the difference is we created chances and we take our chances.”
David Villa scored a brace, Rodney Wallace added a goal after creating the penalty that Villa finished in the first half and Jack Harrison put in a quality shift.
“I just think you have to look at the way Rodney Wallace, Jack and David finished the game,” Vieira said. “I take off Jack, David came off and Rodney was really tired. Our front three today deserve a lot of credit because they worked hard, really hard.”
Also earning post-match praise was the central defense pairing of Alex Callens and Maxime Chanot, who did well to keep Cyle Larin off the scoresheet.
“Today, we played as well as the last time, we defended quite really well inside the box, we didn’t give him too much space and Maxime and Alex, the two central backs, were fantastic today,” Vieira said. “They played really well.”
Vieira also lauded the central midfield pairing of Alex Ring and Mikey Lopez, who made his first start of the season. They helped execute NYCFC’s game plan of pressing the Orlando City defense by winning second balls in the midfield.
“We knew the buildup isn’t something they like to do so we pressed them really high,” Vieira said. “Their keeper played some long balls, but we were there to win the second balls and that’s why I think Ring and Mikey Lopez tactically played a fantastic game, they did really well doing what I asked them to do. When you press them high of course and Kaka isn’t on the ball, they’re struggling to create chances.”
Vieira credited another huge performance by Maxi Moralez, who had more touches (83) than any player in the match. He also completed 85.5 percent of his passes and floated a perfect ball over the Orlando City defense on Villa’s second goal.
But more than just Moralez, Vieira was pleased with his entire team’s effort.
“What is important for us is to try to be consistent on our performances,” Vieira said. “When you look at Maxi, when you look at David, when you look at Rodney, when you look at Jack, I can give you all the names. To come here and perform the way they did today, we needed our players to be at our best.
"If everybody plays at their level, Maxi will shine and show how good he is and this is really good for us. Players, myself, we have to be consistent with our performances.
"That will allow players to express themselves because our structure will allow them to show how good they are. I think when Maxi, David or Callens or Maxime is like that, we are a really strong team.”
