NYCFC advance to East Semis after 3-0 win over Inter Miami CF
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a 3-0 win over Inter Miami at Citi Field tonight off the backs of three second half goals. NYCFC now face a Sunday afternoon matchup at CF Montreal in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
It was a back and forth start to the first half, with NYCFC and Inter Miami trading opportunities at both sides of the pitch.
Gonzalo Higuain got what appeared to be the opening goal in the 23rd minute off a cross from Christopher McVey - only for it to be narrowly disallowed by the offside flag.
“I do think at halftime there [was] a little bit of disappointment that we’ve allowed Miami to stay in it,” interim head coach Nick Cushing said after the match. “We continued to stick to the plan and push really hard and in the end if you have the consistent quality, you’re going to score in the end.”
In the second half, New York City finally pulled away. In the 64th minute, Santi Rodriguez found Gabriel Pereira with space on the far side of the pitch, and he finished to open the scoring.
In the 69th minute, Rodriguez was the setup man again - this time finding Maxi Moralez with a nifty backheel to double City’s lead.
“[Maxi]’s a special player. I think he has evolved his role this season within the team because he’s started to play a little deeper with the injuries we’ve had,” Cushing said. “I think today you saw both sides; to me it was a masterclass, because he gave the team the balance they needed to play defensively while playing like a top number 10… when we play games like we did tonight, he’s a huge part of that.”
Heber finished it off for New York City in the second minute of added time, capitalizing off a poor backpass to set up a giveaway before putting home a rebound off the save to make it 3-0.
NYCFC’s attack was relentless, as the club finished the match with a club playoff record 27 shots in the win. That translated to an expected goal advantage of 2.8 to 0.6 over Miami in the win.
With Miami’s elimination, tonight’s match also marked the end of an era as Gonzalo Higuain stepped off the field for the final time. The Argentine legend had previously announced this season would be his last.
“[Higuain is] a real special player and one of the great number 9s to play our game,” Cushing said. “Huge clubs, huge goals; for someone like me, it’s special to be coaching in a game that he’s playing in.”
The match also featured a playoff-caliber atmosphere at Citi Field. A crowd of 18,066 attended in Queens for a match that was initially slated to be played across the Hudson at Red Bull Arena.
“[Our supporters were] even better than I thought they would, and I knew they would be special,” Cushing said. “[It was] a real special moment to be in front of them singing the songs at the end.”