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| Maxi Moralez. @NYCFC. |
New York City Football Club rolled to a 5-1 win over the Red Bulls in the Hudson River Derby in Harrison, NJ, on Saturday night.
With the win, NYCFC clinched a playoff spot, as they improved to 12-8-11, with 44 points, and moved them into fifth place, ahead of the Red Bulls, whom they own a tiebreaker against since they also have 44 points and a record of 10-14-7.
NYCFC no doubt had momentum entering this one, after they played to a 1-1 draw against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami last Saturday at Yankee Stadium, as the tying goal game in the 95th minute by James Sands.
NYCFC wasted no time getting on the board in this one, as their longest-tenured player, Maxi Moralez buried one from the top of the box in the fifth minute. This was his first goal of the season, and first in nearly two years, as he last scored on October 30, 2022 in a playoff game.
The goal came at exactly 4:34, which is the eighth-fastest goal in the ten-year history of the Hudson River Derby.
Then, incredibly, Alonso Martinez buried one just two minutes later, as he shot one from the left side of the box into the bottom right corner.
The Red Bulls got one back when Dante Vanzeir scored in the 28th minute, but NYCFC responded two minutes later when Andres Perea scored on a header, assisted by Tayvon Gray and Keaton Parks.
In extra time of the first half, the 50th minute, Martinez got his second goal of the night, assisted by Kevin O'Toole and Parks, to put NYCFC up 4-1 going into the break.
Martinez now has 14 goals on the season, and this was the fourth time this season he has scored two-or-more goals. The most in NYCFC history is the six by David Villa.
NYCFC put it away in the 68th minute when Gray scored his first-ever MLS and NYCFC goal, and that made it 5-1. Gray, who assisted on Vanzeir's goal, also has seven assists on the season.
This win is the first for NYCFC since July 3, when they beat Montreal, 2-0, at Citi Field. Since then, in MLS play, they had a nine-game winless stretch, in which they had six draws and three losses.
COACH'S COMMENTS: NCYFC Head Coach Nick Cushing addressed the media after the game:
Thoughts on the 5-1 win and his 100th game coached: "I am very proud. You're in the game and we had a game plan tonight, but we also asked the team to bring what you need in a Derby: energy, fight, and inspiration. We're New York, and I just said to the team, play like New York and play for those fans because we've had some good times, and we've had some downs as well this year...Tough times make top teams, and I believe that."
On the character of the team and sticking together after tough losses: "I got two things to say about the 5-1 loss (against Philadelphia at Yankee Stadium on September 18) and nobody's asked me about it.
First, a lot of the way that I see the game is in a boxing metaphor. I know there are many championships, champion boxers that have been the champion and have been knocked out in the first round, and they don't retire. They go back to the training ring; they go back to the gym and they come back and become champions again. It's difficult and you have to accept it. That doesn't mean that you can't become a champion again. It's sports, that's sports. We've had the conversation and you understand sports. Sometimes you need a tough loss and it didn't feel like that at the moment, but I think the art is to turn that real negative into a positive and also deliver for our fans, because that's unacceptable and we accept that.
Second, I'm going to quote somebody that was a huge influence on my career. That was (former NYCFC) Head Coach Patrick Vieira. Patrick got beat seven to one and he said something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. In that moment he said, better to get beat seven-to-one once than one-nothing seven times. It's so true because you can come back from the really difficult moment.
We had a good result against Miami in the sense of an impact moment for us. Tonight, huge result. We've won nothing, we've won the Hudson River Derby trophy, which is important, but in terms of clinching, in terms of playoffs, we've won nothing tonight. Now our focus turns to Cincinnati."
NEXT UP FOR NYCFC: As the Coach mentioned above, NYCFC will be playing Cincinnati, who is in third place in the MLS Eastern Conference, with 56 points and a record of 17-5-9, on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Red Bull Arena.
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