In what was a perfect night for soccer at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, New York City FC tied the Seattle Sounders 1-1, and between the two legs that were played loss overall by a score of 4-2 in the Concacaf Champions League Semis.
The Boys in Blue needed to win the match 2-0 to advance to the finals and came out with plenty of opportunities early in the match. Thiago Andrade had a beautiful header in the 11th minute to get New York City FC started, but that ball did not have enough zip to it to find the back of the cage.
Talles Mango and Taty Castellanos combined for a brilliant opportunity in the 22nd minute, but that opportunity rolled past the post.
Even though New York City FC had tons of shots, it was Seattle that caused a crowd of over 6,000 fans, majority supporters of New York City going away disappointed. It was around the 28th minute that Raul Ruidiaz finished a cross for the first goal of the night.
The Sounders almost added a second goal as half-time was drawing near, thanks to Ruidiaz, that opportunity was stuffed by City keeper Sean Johnson.
New Yok City FC found a bit of motivation and a ton of momentum in the Second Half of play. It had seemed as if the Boys in Blue responded positive to playing on the larger pitch of Red Bull Arena as the quality of passing and play was noted throughout the night.
It was around the five-minute mark of the Second Half that the hustle of New York City FC was rewarded as Santiago Rodriguez fired low and found the equalizer.
Seattle continued to play hard throughout the night as Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan almost combined for the visiting sides second goal of the evening. The action between the two clubs was back-and-forth with some great combinations seen from both sides.
Head Coach Ronny Deila had tried to see what some fresh legs could do for him in the 76th minute, as Heber and Keaton Parks were introduced into the game. Both men played brilliantly adding some key moments in het match.
New York City FC gave their full effort, but sadly at the end of the night saw a 1-1 result, and a 4-2 aggregate score in the Semis. Seattle will now move on to the finals round of the Concacaf Champions League.
For fans of the Boys in Blue there is still plenty of soccer to play as the Club now puts their full focus on defending the 2021 MLS Championship that they had won. The Club will now get back to training as they will host Real Salt Lake in a match that is to be played at Yankee Stadium on April 17 at 1:00 p.m. For those who want to catch the action can do so on ESPN Plus channel.
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Fans are encouraged to check out the following photo gallery taken by photographer Jenny Rohl;
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