New York City Football Club, the newest professional sports team in New York. They are owned by two of the richest franchises in sports world wide, Manchester City of England’s Premier league and The New York Yankees. They play their matches in the Bronx at, you guessed it, Yankee Stadium.
They started the season with a bang by winning their first home game at Yankee Stadium. Soccer legend and current superstar of the Blue and White David Villa scored the first goal ever for the club. Besides that they haven’t won any other games. Their current record is 1-6-4. They are currently stuck in an eight-game winless streak. They have given away a lot of hard fought games late.
Photo Credit : (Adam Hunger/USA Today Sports)
After losing the first Hudson River Rivalry to their rivals in New Jersey the Red Bulls, they were set to play the Chicago Fire on Friday. The crowd was loud and the match started. No longer than 14 minutes later Razvan Cocis scored off a free kick to make it 1-0. In the 27th minute, rookie RJ Allen received a red card for his slide tackle in the box. The penalty was made and NYCFC now was down to only ten men and were trailing 2-0. Even the always energetic supporter section Third Rail was dumbfounded for a few minutes. The outlook was very bleak, they were dead in the water, OR WERE THEY?
As the first half went on, it looked a little like NYC was just going through the motions waiting for the ref to blow the whistle to end the half. Only one person looked to have life. Spain’s David Villa, the captain, was playing hard and trying to get his team going. You could see how hard he wanted to fight back. Finally right as the half was winding down, Villa had a run with some great dribbling and let a shot rip from 25 yards out. Off the rebound Ballouchy, the teams leader in goals, put the shot in the back of the net after he was clearly fouled. Walking off the field Villa received a yellow for not letting this one go. This may have been the turning point not only of the game but the year.
The second half started and NYCFC looked like a totally different team. They were all alive and attacking. Mix Diskerud who had struggled to that point looked like a maniac in the second half, playing box to box. Villa kept his hard play going and the team was definitely feeding off of it. The team slowed down a bit, looking tired. NYC’s manager Jason Kreis decided to put in super Rookie Khiry Shelton. The game surged on both team trading blows. In the 92nd minute NYCFC finally broke through to tie the game. Villa kept a ball alive and managed to get the ball through to Shelton who put it away and Pandemonium had taken over Yankee stadium. The game would end shortly after.
Yes it was a draw and yes it doesn’t snap the winless streak but this was a huge game. You are probably asking yourself, “Why is a draw a big deal?” Well this team had play hard in almost every game and the results didn’t show. They were starved for some excitement. They were a man down and dominated. This team now should have a much different outlook on the season. With a crazy loyal fan base and the Third Raill keeping the crowd involved throughout the games it will be hard to win at Yankee stadium. The team has Frank Lampard, England Legend, coming over in July and one of their Designated Player spots open (one of the MLS stupid cap restriction rules that could be explained here: http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/roster-rules-and-regulations )
PHOTO CREDIT: NYCFC.COM
The season is still young and the US Open Cup has yet to begin, this team has room to improve and grow. With a young team and a Roster that will improve we will see a new team and hopefully a playoff run in their future.
