For Patrick Vieira, it wasn’t as much the two goals conceded in the second half that was troublesome in a 2-1 loss to D.C. United Saturday at RFK Stadium. It was the way New York City FC came out of the locker room that irked the head coach.
“We knew what to expect, we knew that they would be tough, physical and put us under pressure,” Vieira said. “I’m a little bit disappointed because we didn’t answer that well. I think we were a little bit passive, especially in the first half. The way we went into the game wasn’t the right way and in the end we got punished.”
While he didn’t like the start of the match, Vieira thought the reaction was better in the final 20 minutes of the first half.
“I think the last 15-20 minutes of the first half we controlled the game a little bit better,” he said. “I think we had possession of the ball, but I’m not sure we created enough chances to really say we should take the lead.”
After conceding twice in the second half, Vieira liked the way his club finished strong. Despite the two-goal deficit, NYCFC pushed for goals and had quality chances in the attacking third in the final 30 minutes.
Jack Harrison had a glorious chance that was stopped by Bill Hamid as part of a double save and David Villa put away a nice feed from second-half substitute Tommy McNamara to give NYCFC a chance six minutes from full time.
“We created some good situations and had a really good chance with Jack [Harrison], then we managed to score the goal with David [Villa] and I thought that there would be a space there to at least get the draw,” Vieira said. “At the end we didn’t. there’s a lot of frustration and disappointment because we didn’t play at the level we played the last few games.”
Vieira was pleased with what he saw from Miguel Camargo in his Major League Soccer debut. The midfielder came on for Ronald Matarrita in the 80th minute as NYCFC switched to a 3-4-4 formation in the final minutes.
“He showed how good he is,” Vieira said. “When you look at the way he moves around the field and the quality he on the ball he’s going to be a really interesting player for us.”
