Last week was away and near tropical, this week was home and brutally cold, but the results could not have been more different for New York City Football Club. Last week Orlando City won ugly at home. They pulled out a win over a New York City FC team that dominated in every other aspect of the game except for the one that mattered most, goals. This Sunday in their frigid home opener NYCFC put on a clinic against DC United and, as promised, last week, there was no loss for goals.
What promised to be a high scoring affair for both sides turned out to be a statement game for NYCFC. NYCFC again dominated in every statistical category and put on a show for the home crowd. Jack HArrison and Rodney Wallace showed their pace and quality on the wings. In the 8th minute,Wallace, pounced on a rebound of a rocket by Harrison and drove home a beautiful shot at close range past Bill Hamid. That was just the start on a game that was chilly in the stands but anything but frigid in the back of the net.
David Villa and Maxi Morales each added to the scoring column with Villa scoring a brace and Morales with a goal and an assist. But it was the way NYCFC played that had to get the home crowd excited. Every goal came out of a near clinical build up of play that promises NYCFC will be a fun team to watch in 2017. It was really pretty soccer on a cold cold day at Yankee Stadium. DC United rallied a bit at the start of the second half but Sean Johnson’s excellent work in goal showed it was too little too late.
Simply, United had no answer for NYCFC’s relentless attack. Just like last week, NYCFC wore their opponents down and dominated possession from start to finnish. Wallace was brutal down the wing, adding an assist to his name on the second goal. Villa and Morales showed they could be a true terror to opposing defenses in 2017 with their link up play and goal scoring ability.
Alexander Ring showed why Patrick Vieira has spoken so highly of him in recent weeks. He seemed to be everywhere in the midfield on offense and defense allowing Andrea Pirlo to do what he does best, feed balls into the front line with amazing accuracy. In the end all DC United could do was foul to stop play, racking up 5 yellow cards in the process.
NYCFC seemed to play a false 3 in the back with Chanot, Callens and White serving as the primary backs. Juan Matarrita pushed farther into the midfield and tracked back into defense when needed. The team recorded their first shutout for the 2017. The backline was strong, disciplined and cohesive. Vieira’s tactics seemed to finally unlock a way to play on the small pitch at Yankee stadium. If NYCFC can continue to play like they did on Sunday in defense then this could be a promising season indeed for the boys in blue.
It was new. It was young. It was fast and it was clinical. In the end it was really beautiful soccer. For the fans, NYCFC remain unbeaten in home openers but this one really seemed like something special . It was fun to watch and promises to only get better.
DC United
