(photo courtesy of NYC FC)
It has been a tough inaugural season for Jason Kreis and his men, but the past couple games have suggested that the squad he has built are beginning to click. A solid performance, which perhaps deserved more than a draw, against the Houston Dynamo during their last home game was followed by a gritty win on the road in Philadelphia. At home against a Montreal side eager to continue their own revival in the league, NYCFC were eager to prove that they are indeed a team who are turning the corner, and that is exactly what they did.
Under the lights of Yankee stadium Saturday night, NYCFC delivered their most complete performance of the season. They dominated in midfield, were consistently threatening in the attack, and were, for the most part, defensively solid, in a performance that their fans have been waiting for all season.
From the first minute of the game, New York came out flying, pressing Montreal all over the pitch, successfully preventing the Canadian outfit from establishing any kind of rhythm. NYCFC’s high pressure led to a David Villa free kick and a corner kick before even two minutes had passed.
As good as NYCFC’s pressure was, the quality of their play once they gained possession with even more impressive. The midfield trio of McNamara, Ballouchy, and Ned Grabavoy were too sharp in their passing and too fluid in their movement for Montreal’s midfield to contain, who were left chasing shadows for most of the first half.
In the attack, David Villa was again in fine form, looking sharp and threatening for most of the match. With a second striker in Patrick Mullins occupying a more central role in attack, David Villa was free to drop deeper to find the ball, or find dangerous areas on the edge of the box, which he often exploited with the help of an adventurous McNamara.
After thirty minutes of the best soccer NYCFC had played all season, they finally got the goal they deserved. A terrific team goal, the move began when a long ball found a streaking McNamara on the left hand side. With two men closing down on him, Mcnamara squeezed a low cross through his defenders legs. The ball found Patrick Mullins on the near post, who then played a great one touch lay-off pass to the trailing Ballouchy, and the Moroccan in turn played a square ball across the box to the streaking David Villa who lashed the ball into the back of the net. It was a goal that perfectly summed up the outstanding team play of NYCFC during the first half of the game.
At the start of the second half, NYCFC picked up right where they left off with a great passing move by McNamara, Grabavoy, and Villa allowing the latter to rifle a cracking shot inside the box that forced a great reaction save from Montreal’s goalkeeper, Evan Busch, in the 46th minute.
The next great opportunity for NYCFC came when RJ Allen, who took over from Jeb Brovsky at right back again Montreal, decided to go on a berserker run down the right flank. After taking a nearly twenty yard touch to beat his initial marker, Allen burst ahead and performed an aggressive flying-side-kick lunge into a 50/50 challenge that was as likely to see him come away with a red card as much as possission. Yet, Allen timed the tackle well enough to come out with the ball at his feet, and he then proceeded to play an immaculate curling pass into the path of the on-running Mullins, whose foot could not get the desired contact and sent the ball just wide of the far post.
As the second half progressed, NYCFC’s dominance began to subside a bit, as Montreal creeped back into the game with a modest amount of their own chances. Whatever momentum may have been building, however, was halted by the substitutions of Mix Diskerud and Kwadwo Poku, with the latter making an almost immediate impact after being subbed on.
Though the 2nd goal involved sloppy spacing by Montreal’s backline, credit goes to Villa for cutting off the central outlet pass, and Poku for pressing Montreal defender Wandrille Lefevre into a position where he had no comfortable outlet options. Poku then used his physicality to win the ball on the corner of the Montreal eighteen, and showed patience to find the right pass, square across goal to the on running Mix Diskerud. Mix, fresh from his goal scoring exploits against Germany in the midweek, showed signs of some carry-over confidence in the way he clinically struck the ball low and hard into the far side netting.
The only real blemish on the game came when Montreal capitalized on a free kick in the 87th minute. Montreal Defender, Laurent Ciman, played a good ball to the back post that found the head of Wandrile Lefevre, whom Andrew Jacobson simply allowed to stray from his mark during the crucial moment. It was an unfortunate defensive lapse that was consistent with New York’s defensive struggles all season, and a reminder that, as encouraging as this performance was, Jason Kreis still has work to do on the training ground.
Though the goal was disappointing for NYCFC’s coaches and players alike, ultimately, it only served to deliver a more exciting spectacle for the fans. The goal struck nerves through a crowd who were growing use to disappointment. Yet, the home team was determined to make this night their own, and two minutes later, they sealed the win and ignited the celebrations.
Right before being clobbered in the back of the head, Grabavoy was able to flick a ball on to David Villa and spring a counterattack. Villa passed to Poku, and sprinted onto the quick return pass from Poku. Villa then played a low curling ball back across the face of goal that somehow found its way past the clumsy defense of Montreal’s Patrice Bernier and to the feet of Poku. From less than fifteen yards out, Poku made no mistake, firing a low shot into the corner of the goal.
The performance left the NYCFC players and crowd alike buzzing. It was a truly great result from NYCFC, and an absolute thriller for the fans in attendance who got to witness some truly terrific soccer played by their team. NYCFC look to take another big step in their growth as a team with a tough test against Giovinco, Michael Bradley, and the rest of a strong Toronto FC squad.
