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| Alonso Martinez looks for position against FC Cincinnati. @NYCFC. |
New York came awfully close to having a Subway Series, and instead it will get a first-of-its-kind meeting of a rivalry that is just as fierce.
New York City Football Club beat FC Cincinnati 6-5 in a shootout, after a scoreless 90 minutes, to take the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One, two games to one.
This will set up a playoff edition of the Hudson River Derby, as NYCFC will take on the Red Bulls in the second round. The game will be at Citi Field on Saturday, November 23 at 5:30 p.m.
It will be the first time in the 10 years that NYCFC has been in existence that they will play the Red Bulls in the playoffs. Underscoring how improbable it it, NYCFC, as the sixth seed, will have home field against the Red Bulls, a seventh-seed that swept No. 2 Columbus.
The winner of the NYCFC-Red Bulls series will face Atlanta - a nine-seed that eliminated Lionel Messi and top-seed Miami on Saturday night - or Orlando, a fourth-seed that beat No. 5 Charlotte.
NYCFC lost the first game of this series at Cincinnati, 1-0, on Monday, October 28, then they evened it up with a 3-1 win at Citi Field last Saturday.
After the game was scoreless, under this format, they went right to penalty kicks.
NYCFC and FC Cincinnati each made their first three kicks before Pavel Bucha missed for Cincinnati.
With a chance to win it, Thiago Martins missed for NYCFC to push it past the minimum five.
Cincinnati's Miles Robinson and NYCFC's Justin Hack evened it at 5 apiece before each club missed their next two kicks.
NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese made it three missed in a row when he turned away a chance from Teenage Hadebe.
As the ninth kicker for NYCFC, Mitja Ilenic buried one past Cincinnati goalkeeper Mitja Ilenic to seal the win.
It is NYCFC's first shootout win since they beat the Portland Timbers on the road to win the MLS Cup in December 2021. Their only other shootout win in the postseason came earlier in that Cup run, against the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
COACH'S COMMENTS: NYCFC Head Coach Nick Cushing addressed the media after the game:
On the performance in the second half and the mindset before the shootout: “It was a typical playoff game. We are so used to these one-off games that I rely on the [likes of] James Sands, Keaton Parks, Maxi Moralez, and Thiago Martins to play the game that is in front of us and that is to defend incredibly well but have a threat on the other end... In playoff football, the margins are so small that you have to live on the edge at moments and be brave, and you have to try and take your chances on the other end. So, we lived in counterattack a little bit more than we wanted to, but this is a tough place to come and win. Our record here will show that. So, to get to penalties was a positive because it gave us a chance.”
On what Matt Freese has meant to the team and his performance throughout the season: “Matt's last season in 2023, he had to be patient to get the shirt. Him and Luis [Barraza] have fought it out and continue to and the goalkeeping department is so competitive, [including] Tomás Romero and Alex Rando. The reason why Matt Freese can compete at the level that he can is because of the chemistry and the cohesion that Rob [Vartughian] has with the goalkeepers. Matt is growing into a real leader in the group. He has a real presence in the dressing room, but it’s just his desire. I say all the time all I want in our locker room is guys that are hungry, that believe and that have ambition. [When] we have those three things, we have a chance, at least a chance. Matt Freese, every time we missed [on penalties], he just showed the ambition and the hunger to save another one tonight. That is just a great example of a guy that is a real high contributor to a team.”
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