NYCFC beat DC United 3-2 for second straight win
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
It’s two straight wins at home for New York City FC, as they defeated DC United 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Talles Magno, Santi Rodriguez and Thiago Andrade all scored for NYCFC in the win.
“I think the first half I was really pleased with,” Cushing said. “As the season goes on we have to take those opportunities. We have to be better with the ball in the second half.”
NYCFC primarily created danger off counter attacks, in what became a recurring theme in the first half. The goal came that way in the 14th minute, when a long ball in the back found Braian Cufre on the left flank, and he squared the ball to Talles Magno for the tap in. The flag initially came up for offside, but the goal stood after a VAR-initiated review.
Matias Pellegrini nearly got a really quick hitter in the 20th minute, as he launched a strike from midfield and nearly caught DC goalkeeper Tyler Miller off his line - only for the shot to miss wide left.
“Pellegrini’s work rate sets the standard for our team,” Cushing said. “If we’re going to be a team that wins, everyone has to work as hard as him.”
City continued on the counterattack, with Gabi Pereira setting up the through ball to Santi Rodriguez, who slotted it past Miller to double NYCFC’s lead in the 37th minute.
After not creating much of anything in the first 45 minutes, DC United stormed out of the gates in the second half. Less than a minute after the half began, Mohanad Jeahze delivered a dangerous cross that was headed past Luis Barraza by Christian Benteke, and it was back to a one goal game.
DC United increasingly controlled the run of play as the half went on, and the visitors nearly leveled it in the 70th minute. After an initial save by Barraza, Ted Ku-DiPietro had a point blank look - only for Barraza to come to the rescue again.
Benteke nearly pulled off a spectacular bicycle kick at the far left post in the 87th minute, but he missed wide. On the other end, Thiago Andrade got the two goal cushion right back, slotting it past Miller after sneaking in behind the defense.
The cushion didn’t last long, as Steven Birnbaum finished at the other end to make it 3-2 with 10 minutes of stoppage time looming. Despite a couple of close calls, New York City held on to win the match.
“The two [DC United] goals came at really bad times,” Cushing said. “One was straight out of halftime, which shocked us, and then the other was straight after our goal, which doesn’t give us a chance to get a foothold and get control of the game and kill the game off.”
Next weekend, New York City will hit the road yet again. They’ll take on the Houston Dynamo in Texas next Saturday at 8:30 PM.
“I said to the team: we have to be a team that goes on the road and wins football games,” Cushing said. “If we want to be a winning team, we have to go on the road and win.”