Another win for NYCFC this one out on the left coast before almost 23,000 Galaxy faithful. With a trio of adjustments to his starting lineup from the win by the same score in Montreal with Mararrita, Rocha and Sands getting the go from the go to help get 3 away wins in a row, quite the change from the early season winless times. Starting with 3 in the back helped the first quater hour to be all NYCFC with Ring, Moralez & Tinnerholm playing a big role with that. Ring tried to first get on the sheet at just 17'. Ring took the ball in his defensive third, a give and go with Tajouri-Shradi then let loose his shot that curled just off the net. A scant 5 minutes later, Heber all but opened the scoring, Maxi combined with Matarrita and the ball played into Heber but his shot was put high by a deflection, the corner was again played into Heber but his back heel was high by 12" or so, has Tobin Heath set a trend? At 30', Zlatan found the back of the net, only to have it called back, offside, a great result for the outnumbered NYCFC defense. Late goals for the visitors sent them into the locker room up by the final of 2-0 on the strength of one at 44' and the other at 45' and 6' into extra time. Heber with his 3rd in 5 starts after BIngham played the ball back to him in tight, 2nd balls can be killers. Tinnerholm being more dangerous in an attacking role had his extra time shot go off a hand of LA and Maxi put it home. This lower 90 finish gave Maxi 1 goal in 3 pks thus far this year. The home team fared better as the 2nd half began, as they had more possession but NYCF held stout with Callens, Chanot and Sands getting the hard work done. With less than half an hour to go , Mitrita came on to put some power back into the attack, but defense was the need for the team. Callens more than earened his keep as the chip shot by Zlatan was sent away by his astute header at 80'. WIth 5' to go Zlatan again beat Johnson but it went off the cross bar.
Quotes:
NYCFC HC Torrent:"I am very happy. We feel good. I know they are happy when we are playing this system. We didn't start well, maybe deserved more. I have to analyze. A key player arrived for us you know, Heber.
On the pk by Maxi:"That means he has personality. We have 3-4 players able to shoot the penalties really well, but if one player decides to shoot the penalty to me that is not a problem."
Sean Johnson NYCFC GK:
On recent play: " I think it is just really putting in the work on the practice field. We have gotten good results lately, especialy on the road, we have put it together on both sides of the ball. Continue to look forward. I think the guys are hungry. We can reach another level. In this business it is about having character. "
On 3 straight blank sheets: "I take pride in that."
On the Zlatan incident: "I don't think there were any hugs, he is just a competitor. In the heat of the battle, you want to do what you can to protect the guys, make sure they know we are here to play. Zlatan is a talented player, he is a clever boy, it is part of the game. I would be frustrated if I were him too, I think we can look back and say we got the best out of the whole situation today.
Maxi Morales NYCFC Fwd:
Tonights performance: " In my opinion it was great winning here. We knew we had to do our job. We got a 2-0 win and played a good game."
On the pk: "Anytime I grab the ball I always have confidence. It worked to add to our lead."
On what the teeam has done to imporve: " We have been showing from 5 to 6 games that we are finding the level of play. "
I have seen a few replays of the incident with Zlatan and Johnson. Johnson bumped him from behind then went to him again. Big mistake with a black belt in Taekwondo, and he found out why. His hand was to the throat to Johnson, did he squeeze the throat maybe or he was going for a point below the ear very painful, either way it is a straight red, a yellow to Johnson as he started the incident. Zlatan needs to stop this he will hurt someone and he is well aware of it. The league must take a stand on this. What Zlatan did was far worse than Roldan earlier in a game and he was sent off.