NYCFC off to Eastern Conference Finals after 3-1 road win over CF Montreal
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC advanced to the second round of the MLS Cup playoffs this afternoon with a 3-1 win over CF Montreal at Stade Saputo.
“We played some football, we were deadly on the counterattack, and we can show that we can suffer and defend the box,” interim head coach Nick Cushing said after the match. “I think that gives everybody a lift - knowing that as long as we play the moment, we have a good chance of getting results against anybody.”
The opening minutes were dominated by City’s high press, as Montreal struggled to get the ball out of their own half. In the 6th minute, that culminated in a Santi Rodriguez cut back that fell to Maxi Moralez at the edge of the six, and he finished to give NYCFC the early 1-0 lead.
Montreal regrouped and took control of the run of play after, and the chances quickly followed. In the 11th minute, a cross into the box was nearly headed in for an own goal by Maxime Chanot; he was injured on the play and had to come off, being replaced by Keaton Parks.
In the 16th minute, Alistair Johnston whipped in a cross to the middle of the area for Kei Kamara, and his header narrowly missed off the crossbar.
On the stroke of halftime, New York City doubled their lead. Rodriguez set up Heber on a through ball from the right flank, and Heber beat Montreal keeper James Pantemis on the one-on-one to go into the halftime locker room up 2-0 - almost completely against the run of play.
“We wanted to be better with the ball, but we also knew there would be moments when we'd have to play loud and we'd have to suffer,” Cushing said. “We knew that we would get the chances on the counter attack with Santi, [Gabriel] and Maxi, we wanted to be clinical in the box, and I think we showed up with the goals.”
Talles Magno returned to the pitch in the 58th minute, having missed the first round match against Miami due to injury.
Just two minutes later, New York City were awarded a penalty when Pantemis tripped up Gabriel Pereira on a run into the box. Magno stepped up to the spot and converted to his left to make it a 3-0 City lead.
Magno had to leave the match late with an injury, and New York City had to finish down a man, having exhausted all of their substitutions.
Montreal pulled one back in the 85th minute, as a cross from Zachary Brault-Guillard found Djordje Mihailovich in the penalty area, and his header bounced in off the hands of Sean Johnson.
The win now sets up an Eastern Conference Final rematch with the top-seeded Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park next Sunday - with the winner moving on to the 2022 MLS Cup.
“I expect a Philadelphia team that will be incredibly motivated - especially the 12 guys that didn't get the chance to play [in the 2021 Eastern Conference Final] - to be incredibly motivated to make the result go the other way,” Cushing said.