For weeks now Ronny Deila has been telling the press to be patient and that the goals will come. They came in bucket loads on Sunday evening in the Bronx as New York City trounced a depleted Orlando squad. The game, coupled with some midweek revenge against Montreal, signaled that NYCFC may be finally living up to the promise of their play on the pitch.
Orlando was a depleted side, playing without Daryl Dike or Nani, but they started strong in the first five minutes. Then NYCFC asserted themselves and never looked back. The break trough goal came in the 40th minute with Valentin Castellanos orchestrating some nice hold up play and passing the ball off to a streaking Jesus Medina who coolly brought the ball into the box and slotted it home near post against Pedro Gallese.
Orlando would hold shape and keep NYCFC from scoring a second until after the half but Ismael Tajouri-Shradi would score with a thunder strike from his left foot in minute 53 and open the floodgates. After that three nicely worked plays lead to three more goal. Maxi Moralez got on the score sheet in the 65th minute for the first time this season and Malte Amundsen got his first for the club in the 79th minute. Capping it all off, Castellanos ended his goal drought in the 82nd tapping in a spilled save by Gallese.
The goals were important in the game but more importantly NYCFC finally lived up to the promise of their statistics. In previous games for the past three weeks they have dominated in every statistical category except the one that counted. The torrent of goals on Sunday night shows that Deila may have been right in his predictions all along. He had this to say after the match:
“When we do the same performance over time, we’re gonna get what we deserve in the end. Today we played top football from the first minute to the last minute and we won by five. We could even one more, and they had one goal chance during 90 minutes, that’s impressive. It’s top professional, what we do, and the way that we get three, we go for four, we go for five, and players coming on do the job. The others, just keep on going, then we’re going to be really hard to play against, so I’m just a proud coach today, I’m very happy for the boys.”
Jul 25, 2021; New York, New York, USA; New York City FC head coach Ronny Deila (left) celebrates with teammates after defeating Orlando City at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Another important element in the game was the resurgence of Maxi Moralez as a midfield maestro. Deila has experimented with pushing him out to the left wing for the past to games, opting for a more high pressing number 10 in Jesus Medina, but this shape also allows Medina and Moralez to shift shape and switch when needed, gibing NYCFC a defensive presence in the high press and allowing Moralez to do what he does best: create assists. Moralez may have played his most complete game on Sunday night scoring a goal and being directly involved in two others. After the game, he pointed to NYCFC’s return to Yankee stadium and the fans as a reason for his resurgence.
“I think didn’t we change anything, we try to do our best and what is important is that we play as a team. I think that the goals that went in were the goals that were needed in the past games and it is a great difference. It is hard playing every 2-3 days, various games but playing our first game home with a lot of intensity and the difference we made.”
New York City next play on Friday, again at home, against a team that has caused them trouble of late. Columbus has been a thorn in the side this year finding a wat to beat NYCFC in two games even though NYCFC dominated in the statistical categories both times. If Sunday night is any indication, NYCFC will be looking to exact some revenge against The Crew on Friday and give the fans more to cheer about.
