NYCFC Pick Up Where They Left Off

No MLS squad has ever won the CONCACAF Champion League, but NYCFC took a step towards that goal on Tuesday night defeating Santos de Guapiles two to zero in Costa Rica.

Last year’s MLS Golden Boot winner, Valentin Castellanos got his first goal of 2022 just five minutes in after a Santos player committed a bad hand ball in the box to give NYCFC a gift of a penalty. NYCFC would continue to look dangerous with Maxi Morales hitting the woodwork off a nice cross from Santiago Rodriguez to almost double the tally early on. It was Castellanos though who would not be denied in the 30th minute finding an errant deflection in the box and rocketing it into the back of the net.

It had all the makings of a blow out at half time with NYCFC dominating 70 percent of possession. In the second half, NYCFC kept knocking at the door but could not find the right ball to add to the score. In the 69th minute, The Pigeons were hard done by a straight red card on Santiago Rodriguez for stepping on the foot of a Santos player.

“I was very close to the actiokn and there was no red card. I don’t understand how VAR can call that a red card,” said defender Maxime Chanot after the match. Head coach, Ronny Deila would echo that sentiment as well. “To Me there was no red card.”

But the call stood and NYCFC played the rest of the match down a man. The game was perhaps more lopsided than the score indicates and NYCFC now head to their “home” game in Los Angeles next week with two away goals in their pocket. All the team needs to do is draw and they are through to the next round.

Deila felt good about the team’s chances after the game.

“We had full control of the game; you can see that (Santos) didn’t create anything. Even with 10-men we were really solid and disciplined, also the big chances we created, we should have scored a little more. When we got the ball to the front three players, we created chances over and over again.”

If the team can keep creating those chances they stand a chance at winning the whole tournament. The draw has put them in a very favorable position and with Castellanos scoring in bunches the sky is the limit. It is a large task and one that must be accomplished one day at a time. Right now, For NYCFC it is all about next Wednesday in LA.