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| Jonathan Lewis (17, right) celebrates his goal with Maxi Moralez. USA Today Sports. |
New York City Football Club rolled to a 3-0 win over the Montreal Impact on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, with all goals coming in a big second half.
NYCFC imrpoved to 11-4-4, with 37 points, in second place in the Eastern Conference, now just three points behind Atlanta for the top spot, and five points ahead of the Red Bulls. They have gained six points on the Red Bulls this week, as they beat them at The Stadium on Sunday night, 1-0.
With the win, NYCFC remains unbeaten at home this season, with nine wins and one tie.
NYCFC now has three wins and one loss with Domenec Torrent at the helm.
NYCFC dominated in the first half, notching 11 shots to two for Montreal and having 66.3 percent possession, but they couldn't find the back of the net.
In the second half, they started to open it up, and it paid off in the 60th minute.
As NYCFC got into Montreal territory, Maxi Moralez dropped it off for Jesus Medina on the right side.
Medina slowly dribbled to the top of the box and fired a rocket past the Montreal defense to make it 1-0. This was his third goal for NYCFC
In the 65th, Medina sent a long volley from the left side of the field to the right corner, where Ronald Matarrita corralled it and then floated one over the Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush to make it 2-0 NYCFC.
Matarrita said of the goal, “I saw that the keeper was coming out towards the front post, so I tried to put it over him towards the far post and things worked out and I’m very happy that I was able to contribute to the team.”
This was Matarrita's second goal of the season and third overall for NYCFC.
In the 76th minute, Moralez came down the center of the field, dropped it off to Matarrita on the left, and he fired it over to Jonathan Lewis (who came on in the 67th minute) at the top right of the box, and Lewis buried it to make it 3-0.
This was Lewis' first goal of the season and third for NYCFC, and he said of the goal, "I wouldn’t say I figured it out, but I definitely think I’m learning and processing new information. I’m learning from my teammates on how to be mature, so when I’m not getting my shot to play, I’m learning from the guys and seeing what they do and I what I can bring different.”
NYCFC Head Coach Domenec Torrent said of Lewis coming off the bench in an impact role, “Jonathan is a fast player and has a lot of intensity in every single ball. He’s a fighter. When the opponents defended deep, he has more issues. I prefer [taking it] step-by-step because he’s a young player, and I am here, my staff is here, to improve the young players. When the game is open, it is the right moment for Jonathan because the quality for Jonathan is to run behind them. But step by step he has to improve. He’s a young player. I’m very happy with him. The most important thing, as a coach, is when a player plays 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, is focusing on that. Right now, Jonathan is focusing every single second. I’m very happy for the team and especially for him.”
Torrent said of NYCFC's winning this one just three days after an emotional win over the Red Bulls, “It wasn’t easy for us because we played two games in three days, but I was impressed by the performance of our players. Our players seemed physically better than the Montreal players. I congratulate my players because what they did was amazing, but the most important thing when that happens is to pass the ball and keep the ball."
It will be another quick turnaround for NYCFC, as they are back home Saturday night against the Columbus Crew at 7 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.
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