New York City FC gave the 43,507 people who showed up to the team’s home-opener at Yankee Stadium a lot to cheer about with a 2-0 victory over the New England Revolution.
David Villa’s class in the opposition penalty area was the difference. He scored the game-winner in the first half and set-up Patrick Mullins’ in the second-half to put the game out of reach for the Revolution.
New England dominated a lot of the play in the first-half, but the Revs were unable to convert any of their meaningful chances (and there were plenty). Agudelo still looks rusty and Nguyen is still finding his way back after the injury layoff. There will be more to come from Jay Heaps’ side in the attacking-third, but the bigger worry has to be with his backline.
The center back partnership between Andrew Farrell and Jose Goncalves has allowed six goals in two games and looked shaky when put under pressure on the counter-attack. Goncalves was sent off and will be suspended next week, which compounds the issue for Heaps. The goals will come with time, but the defensive issues need to be sorted out.
For Kreis, this win is huge. It gets New York off to a great start -- 4 points in their opening two games -- in what will be a much tighter and tougher Eastern Conference than people expected. His team looked much more fluid this week and looks well on its way to becoming the kind of team that Kreis is known for building -- fluid and deadly in possession. NYC FC’s team defended as a unit and showed a lot of steel while being pushed back and pressed by New England. Next up for New York is a trip to Colorado, never an easy place to play, on Saturday.
For New England, they get to go home finally after two tough games on the road to open the season. They host Montreal on Saturday.
FINAL SCORE 2-0 NEW YORK
That’s it. Goals from David Villa and Patrick Mullins seal it for New York. Final thoughts in a moment.
ADDED TIME: Three Minutes before this thing is over.
87 Min: Chants of “You can’t Beat Us!” gain some steam near the press box. New York City fans having a good time. And they should be.
GOAL!
NYC FC extends their lead with a well worked counter. David Villa gets in-behind the Revolution defense and sets up Patrick Mullins for his first goal of the season.
Mullins played for New England last year and was selected in the expansion draft by New York. He just came on the field too. What a way to debut.
83 Min: Still 1-0 New York. Not too much has changed or happened. New England is struggling to create much and New York seems content playing on the counter.
79 Min: NYC FC makes a chance: Shay Facey for Josh Williams
Tactical Note
Darrius Barns and Andrew Farrell have switch spots for New England, which is playing with a back three after the Goncalves red card.
Substitution: Scott Caldwell comes on for Lee Nguyen, who is still working his way back from injury.
Updated
72 Min: Shuttleworth is earning his keep today. He makes another save after New England is picked apart on the break. Mix Diskerud should have scored.
Attendance!
We’ve just been informed that 43,507 people showed up here watch NYC FC’s first ever home game. Not bad. A lot of powder blue out there.
69 Min: Shelton gets in behind the Revolution defense and should score, but he shoots tamely at Shuttleworth. New York looks firmly in control now.
RED CARD!
Revolution captain and center back Jose Goncalves gets a red card in the 66 minute for tangling with Shelton, who just came into the game. New England down a goal and now down a man.
65 Min: Changes for both sides.
Charlie Davies comes on for Juan Agudelo, who had a tough game and should have had a goal with how many chance he had.
Khiry Shelton comes on for Velasquez.
63 Min: David Villa forces another great save from Shuttleworth, this time on a volley from a Mix Diskerud cross. Corner comes to nothing for NYC, but they’ve got a handle of the Revs this half and look more likely to score a second.
59 Min: Sub for New England: Darrius Barnes comes on for Kevin Alston. A kind of like-for-like sub there.
Barnes has an excellent long-throw. Expect to see it with the narrow field here.
Updated
57 Min: Josh Williams gets a yellow card for a sliding challenge on Rowe. Dangerous spot for a free-kick for New England.
52nd Min: Velasquez with another chance for New York. He’s been the best player on the field today. And I’m not just making that up.
On a field with Diskerud, Nguyen & Rowe, most exciting American playmaker is Velasquez. So much fun. #NYCvNE
— Matthew Doyle (@MLSAnalyst) March 15, 2015
Updated
49 Min: New York should be up 2-0, but again Shuttleworth bails out his defense. Villa with another golden chance but this tim he can’t curl an effort with his left-foot.
New England’s defenders are all over the place when New York breaks. Nemec just manhandled Farrell and Villa turned Goncalves inside out to create that chance. Still 1-0, though.
47 Min: Villa with a chance early, but Shuttleworth is up to the task and off his line to deny him.
Second Half Starts...
We’re off again!
Half-Time Thoughts
New England has missed some stellar chances to level this game. It’s only a matter of time before they get on the end of something and actually finish a chance.
Agudelo has looked much better as the game has gone on and Kelyn Rowe has been in good form for New England. Nguyen has been quiet, but his presence in the middle has opened up space for Rowe and Fagundez to operate on the wings.
For New York, they’ve been penned so deep at times that Nemec has had to drop real deep to help defend, which means, though, he isn’t there to hold-up play and allow his defense to just hoof it long. Kreis will have to figure out how to crowd the midfield a bit more if New York is to relieve the pressure in the second half. Villa has looked livelier this week and if he gets another chance he might put this game out of reach.
For New England, they will probably come out with the same game plan and hope they can finish one chance. One goal and this game will really open up, which favors New England and their ability to break quickly.
Half-Time
New York takes a 1-0 lead into the half. I’m amazed they haven’t let any goals in at this point. New England pressed and huffed and dominated play after Villa’s goal.
43 Min: The Revs keep up the pressure and only a minute after Agudelo misses a clear-cut chance so does Rowe, who chips over Saunders but has his shot just miss the far post. New York’s staying alive, somehow.
42 Min: Agudelo should have leveled the game with a header, but he hits the shot straight at Saunders and the NYC goalkeeper just barely (I mean centimeters type stuff) keeps the shot and the rebound out of the net.
37 Min: New England keeps up the pressure and should have a scored. A low cross from left back Chris Tierney goes through Agudelo’s legs inside the six-yard-box, but he can’t turn the chance on net. Still, a runner at the back post (who I couldn’t see ) nearly got to the end of the chance.
The Revs have pinned New York in for much of this half. You have to wonder how much longer they can hold out before being unlocked.
Here’s the Goal
A really nice finish from Villa. It’s not anything new, though. He’s been class inside the box since the dawn of the dinosaurs it seems.
David Villa with the first goal for @NYCFC on home ground. #NYCvNE https://t.co/NFkl1jlc5A
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2015
29 Min: New England should be level. Kelyn Rowe pinged a corner that Dorman flicks on at the near post. The flick-on goes right through Saunders’ six-yard-box and two Revs players miss the chance for a tap-in.
New England has New York pressed in after that Villa goal.
26 Min: New England trying to slow the game down a bit after the goal. Agudelo has been off a bit and still appears it have a little rust after all those months off.
New England’s defense has allowed five goals this year. It appears the loss of A.J. Soares in the middle of their backline is bigger than anyone wanted to admit.
GOAL! NYC FC
19 Min: I guess I called it. David Villa opens his NYC FC account and puts New York up 1-0.
A nice one-two with Grabavoy at the edge of the Revolution penalty area opens up the Revolution defense and Villa does what he has done for years now and curls the ball to the far post for his first goal of the season. A classy finish.
16 Min: Velasquez feeds Villa and the Spanish forward gets around Andrew Farrell after the defender falls over, but Villa’s shot is low and tame allowing Shuttleworth to get a hand on the ball and push it wide.
Villa is finding more space this week than against Orlando last week. If the Revs keep giving him these half-chances he’ll put one away.
13 Min: A Revolution corner forces some last ditch defending from the New York defense. Crosses from New England causing a lot of problems for New York. That’s not good with Agudelo lurking in the penalty area.
11 Min: A long throw from New England causes a few problems int he New York penalty area. Saunders cleans it up. But this is a good time to answer an email about the size of the field...
From Max:
Hi Kevin, am I right in thinking that the pitch is extremely narrow, or is it just the camera angle?
It is not the camera angle. The field is very narrow. With the mount to one side and the outfield wall on the other, the field has been squeezed in here.
9 Min: Revolution forward Juan Agudelo gets a yellow card for a typical forward attempting to tackle challenge.
6 Min: NYC FC defender Chris Wingert gets a yellow card.
5 Min: First chance of the game for NYC FC. A turnover from the Revs in their own half leads to a chance for Nemec, but New England’s goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth makes a big save with his legs to deny the Slovakian forward.
1 Min: NYC FC with a corner straight away, but the Revs are able to clear.
Revolution fans started the game off with a “Where is Frank Lampard” chant. It will be interesting to see what the NYC FC can muster for organized songs.
Updated
Kick Off!
Soccer in Yankee Stadium is now officially a thing.
Long Lines
It’s a slow slog to get into Yankee Stadium it appears, according Mr. Fancy Pants in the Front Row, Graham Parker (I’m way in the back of the press box):
From my perfect vantage point, just down to the left and a bit in front, stadium looks to be slow to be filling up…a couple of friends texting me from outside saying the lines are pretty crazy.
Vocal contingent of New England’s Midnight Riders down beside me though…
The tweets back him up.
The line to get into Yankee Stadium for @NYCFC's inaugural game. I wonder how an empty stadium feels to walk out into pic.twitter.com/tse19g6vZJ
— CTIG (@CTIGUK) March 15, 2015
NYCFC fan sent me this not too long ago, large crowds waiting close to an hour to enter Yankee Stadium pic.twitter.com/5IF9BVfXEn
— Mike Gramajo (@Mike_Gramajo) March 15, 2015
This should be interesting. There is a good crowd in here. I can only imagine how many people are outside.
Battle of the Best Dressed Manager...
Who will it be? Jason Kreis in a modern, slim cut suit (I assume) or Jay Heaps in the hedge-fund manager attire with a stellar v-neck sweater?
In all seriousness, these two managers are two of the best MLS has to offer. It will be interesting to see how they approach this game.
Kreis has sent out a solid 4-4-1-1 and has a target forward in Nemec -- who didn’t have a great first game -- playing in front of Villa. Expect Diskerud to look for space to run the game from midfield.
Heaps went with his usual 4-1-4-1 with Andy Dorman in the hole protecting the backline, which features a center back partnership of Jose Goncalves and Andrew Farrell that’s still developing. Lee Nguyen should be able to find a lot of space in midfield with Agudelo leading the line and occupying the NYC center backs. Fagundez was the team’s best player in preseason, but he struggled to get into the game in Seattle and impose himself.
Preamble
New York City FC may be a totally new franchise created out of the ether that is Manchester City and the Yankees, but there was no shortage of Man City powder blue on the subway on the way to the game today. A young man sitting one table away from me at brunch in Queens (don’t judge) this morning was sporting a NYCFC shirt. There is a lot of buzz about this team and it’s pretty exciting.
This first home game will set the tempo for the franchise. New MLS teams have had historically successful home openers. Orlando’s 60,000 fans last week was the latest big-time showing from excited and new fans that matched the passion we’ve seen in recent years with the crowds in Portland, Seattle and Montreal.
New York comes into this game after drawing with a very good Orlando team last week. Mix Diskerud got off to a good start with a goal, but the team as a while looked disjointed at times and David Villa, the team’s marquee signing, cut a frustrated figure. Jason Kreis still has a lot of work to do, but I expect this team to grow with every game.
For New York, there is no better test than the New England Revolution for their first home game. The Revs may be without some key players (Jermaine Jones and Teal Bunbury), but they’re still the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. Plus, the close proximity between these teams brings the atmosphere boosting traveling support.
Last week’s 4-0 drubbing from Seattle will not be the norm for the Revolution, which boasts some of the best young talent in MLS. The biggest change from last week is the return of the Revs top-scorer from last year, Lee Nguyen. The 28-year-old midfielder led the Revs charge to MLS Cup last year with dynamic performances and his ability to pull the strings in midfield was sorely missed last week.
One of this week’s big talking points ahead of this game was the condition of the field at Yankee Stadium. The baseball stadium will be NYCFC’s home field this year and it appears that the club will be laying gras over part of the infield. Space will still be tight to come by, though. It will be interesting to see how some of the foreign players like David Villa adapt to the tight confines as well as the looser sections of the filed.
I’ll be back shortly with a some more build up and team news, but for now send your tweets my way @kkoczwara or email kkoczwar@gmail.com.
Team News
NYC FC Starting XI: Josh Saunders; Williams, Hernandez, Wingert, Brovsky; Velasquez, Jacobson, Diskerud; Grabavoy; Villa, Nemec
Revolution Starting XI: Shuttleworth; Alston, Farrell, Goncalves, Tierney; Dorman, Nguyen, Kobayashi, Rowe, Fagundez; Agudelo
Almost the same starting XI for the Revolution from their 4-0 loss to Seattle last week. The big news is that Lee Nguyen returns to the line-up after recovering from a groin injury that bothered him at the tail end of last season, while Scott Caldwell makes way for Daigo Kobayashi.
For NYC it’s one change from last week’s 1-1 draw with Orlando. Valasquez replaces Mehdi Ballouchy, who isn’t on the bench either.
Hello Everyone
I’ve made it to Yankee Stadium. A little slow going here at first. We’ll have your starting line-ups here in a second.
Updated
Kevin will be here shortly. In the meantime why not read Simon Evans’ look ahead to NYCFC’s Bronx debut:
New York’s Yankee Stadium debut
Last week New York City FC made their MLS debut but Jason Kreis’s team were very much the supporting act in front of that huge crowd in Orlando. This week they take headline billing at their home, for now, Yankee Stadium – and they will be keen to make a strong first impression.
Fans will be curious to see how the baseball park works as a soccer venue, particularly given the reports of the grass being in far from ideal condition, and the players will be keen to see how they are received by fans of a team manufactured by an alliance of the iconic baseball club and the Premier League’s Manchester City. Will there be the kind of passion we saw in central Florida? Will NYCFC be able to win the hearts of those New Yorkers who haven’t been prepared to make the trip over to Harrison, New Jersey to watch the Red Bulls?
On the field, the New England Revolution, last year’s runners-up in MLS Cup, and the team that ended the Red Bulls’ hopes in the playoffs, should provide a sterner test than Orlando did. The task for Kreis at this very early stage with the expansion team will be eased somewhat by the absence of Revs’ US international midfielder Jermaine Jones, who is out with a groin injury. Lee Nguyen, New England’s creative force, was back in training this week and could feature, although forward Teal Bunbury is questionable after he picked up a shoulder injury in the opening-day defeat at Seattle.
