New York City FC punch ticket to Eastern Conference Final with 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union

Courtesy: NYCFC

By Chris Tsakonas

For the third time in the last five seasons, New York City FC will play in the Eastern Conference Final after defeating the Philadelphia Union 1-0 at Subaru Park tonight. Maxi Moralez scored the decisive goal for New York City in the 27th minute.

Here are three observations from New York City’s win.

New York City capitalizes on counter

After a chippy start to the match that saw just one shot from either team in the opening 25 minutes, New York City broke through on the counterattack. A long ball out of the back was played into the middle to find Agustin Ojeda, who slotted a through ball into the box to set up a left corner finish from Moralez.

It was Moralez’s sixth playoff goal in a New York City shirt, and it broke the deadlock at the midway point of the first half.

“His leadership was there from day one,” head coach Pascal Jansen said about Moralez. “He's been a great inspiration for the whole dressing room since day one, because he came back from a severe injury last season. If you see how much commitment he's shown throughout the season to be available and bring the level to the game that he's done, this doesn't surprise me, and I'm very happy for him and for the team with a fantastic goal.”

Defense holds off Philadelphia

The Union took a while to consistently threaten New York City, opting to sit back and invite pressure in hopes of hitting on the counter. That only led to one chance in the first half hour, as a shot from Bruno Damiani in the 22nd minute was stopped by Matt Freese.

That changed after Moralez’s goal, as the Union went on a late surge of seven shots in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Two of those chances were on target, with Olwethu Makanya and Jakob Glesnes both being denied by Matt Freese. When the halftime whistle finally blew, New York City remained on top despite being outshot by an 8-3 margin.

Freese caps off strong performance with late save

As the minutes slowly ticked away, the Union pushed forward in a bid to keep the season alive with an equalizer. The former Union goalkeeper Matt Freese ended up being a key factor down the stretch with a pair of late saves.
In the 74th minute, Milan Iloski delivered a ball to the near right post to find Francis Westfield - only to be denied by a kick save from Freese. Freese would deny Iloski directly in the second minute of stoppage time - parrying away a long-range effort to ultimately secure the win for New York City.

“I think it’s pretty clear why Matty is the US number one in the national team - especially with the big saves in the second half, in a very important phase of the game, when you see Philly is trying to throw everything at us,” Jansen said. “The save at the back post area [against Westfield] was incredible.” 

Next Up

New York City FC will travel to South Florida to take on Inter Miami CF for a spot in the MLS Cup Final on Saturday. Miami defeated FC Cincinnati 4-0 to advance earlier tonight, with Lionel Messi scoring one goal and adding three assists in the win.
Live radio commentary from Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 5:45 p.m. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.