NYCFC Returns To MLS Action In Style

 

Nico Fernandez Mercau. Provided by NYCFC.

New York City Football Club began the second half of the MLS season with a solid 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night.

This was NYCFC's first all-time regular season road victory in Columbus, and they also beat Columbus, 3-0, on May 10 at Yankee Stadium.

This also was a measure of revenge for NYCFC, as the last time they were in Columbus, they were shutout 1-0 in a US Open Cup match that eliminated them from the tournament. NYCFC lost their final game before the World Cup hiatus, 2-1, at Nashville, on May 23.

NYCFC is now 6-4-6, with 22 points, in sixth place in the MLS Eastern Conference. They are just four points behind the Chicago Fire (8-2-5, 26 points), who they will host Saturday night at Yankee Stadium. Columbus fell to 4-4-8, with 16 points, and they are mired in 11th place in the East.

Nico Fernandez Mercau got NYCFC on the board first when he converted a penalty kick in the 28th minute. It was the Argentinian's 11th goal of the season, most on NYCFC and third in the MLS.

NYCFC then cashed in deep into the second half, in the 70th minute, when Talles Magno wrested the ball away from Columbus' Rudy Camaacho in the corner and took it along the touch line toward the goal before sending a pass into the box, where Agustin Ojeda was on the doorstep of the net, and he settled it down before kicking it with his left foot in to make it 2-0 NYCFC.

It was Ojeda's fourth goal, and Magno's second assist, of the season.

NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese came oh so close to a shutout, but Columbus' Daniel Gazdag buried a penalty kick in the 93rd minute.

This was Freese's 100th career MLS appearance, and it came after he represented the United States national team at the World Cup, where he started all four of their matches, and recorded two cleans sheets.

NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen said of the importance of opening the second half of the season with a win, "It's massive...It's the first game after a break, which is not common in MLS, because of the World Cup. So the first game coming out of a break is very important, but also, being on the road against Columbus is a tough game for any team coming here. The way we played, I said to the guys just now, in possession I wasn't really satisfied because we were losing too much energy and giving away possession unnecessarily too many times. But the way we played, especially out of possession for big periods of the game, was very satisfying to see against a possession-based team like Columbus. So I'm pretty happy with the performance, happy with the result obviously, and it's a good start coming back from the break."