The New York City Football Club picked up their second win in five days with a 1-0 shutout over FC Dallas in a midweek matchup that saw the Texas heat bring a new set of challenges for the Gents In Blue.
On a night that saw field temperatures steadily over 100 degrees New York was sluggish for much of the match, being outshot 12-4 and only one corner kick to 7 and ball possession near even. However in the 29th minute a Santiago Rodriguez drive down the right side set up Héber for what turned out to be the loan goal of the match.
The second half did see several chances by FC Dallas, first by 11 goal scorer Jesus Ferreira which had to be turned aside from defender Justin Haak, catching the team’s attention in his first MLS start, while Franco Jara and Jadir Obrian kept the pressure on New York to maintain the 1-0 lead.
1495Sports is proud to bring the following video featuring thoughts from Head Coach Nick Cushing
With substitutions mounting and a full 9 minutes of added time for the second half Nkosi Tafari would have one final chance with a header went wide; giving NYCFC an escape with the 1-0 final.
1495 Sports is also proud to bring the following video featuring thoughts from Midfielder Justin Haak
In the end, head coach Nick Cushing was pleased with the result. “I thought we dominated with the ball the first half and then we knew we would have to defend the game and we were going to have to defend the game well. Their attacking players are strong and the tank is empty here with the heat when you get to the end parts of the game and with the water breaks it is 100 minutes, so we showed both sides of the game, real characters today.”
Next up for the team they’re back in the area taking on the Red Bulls on the board on Sunday, which could prove interesting given the last time these two teams met, NYCFC fans broke out into fights and threw things on the field in a 3-0 loss.
5 Notes:
- This is now the tenth straight match where NYCFC has scored a goal. With the 1-0 win their goal differential is back up to 17 which is second in MLS and now tied with Philadelphia for first in the East.
- Héber is making the most of his chances. In his last 4 starts he’s scored 5 goals, with the team going 3-0-1 in those matches.
- For the upcoming match against RBA on Sunday, due to fan issues in the last match it’s been announced they are limiting the number of tickets being made available to NYCFC fans. A response the fans, while disappointed with, largely understand and agree with. Making matters more challenging for the team will be a rested Red Bull team which last played a match on 7-9.
- With the clean sheet Goalkeeper Sean Johnson is back at the top of the MLS standings with 9.
- Sean Johnson, Taty Castellanos and Alex Callens will represent NYCFC as part of the MLS Roster when they take on the best from Liga LX on August 10. Their three is tied for an MLS team beat with LAFC who will be sending three of their own.
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