New York City FC 1-D.C. United 1
“We’ll take the point.” That seemed to be the theme in the post-match press conferences for both D.C. United and New York City FC on Saturday evening. With both sides lineups severely depleted and playing in conditions, both man-made and from nature, that were less than ideal the two scrapped together to earn a 1-1 draw at Yankee Stadium.
Defender Steve Birnbaum put D.C. ahead with a header off of a cross in the 58th minute, his first of the season. With just 15 players dressing for the match, United opted to play a much more conservative style than they had exhibited in recent weeks. They were out-shot 31-2 during the match with just two shots on target to NYCFC’s nine.
While it looked for a time as if United might get their second road win of the season, NYCFC ramped up the pressure late. NYCFC head coach Dom Torrent made a tactical switch in the 81st minute, bringing on forward Jonathan Lewis for midfielder James Sands. Lewis’ fresh legs gave D.C. trouble on the counter-attack and directly led to a free kick opportunity in the 86th minute. David Villa the smashed his set piece chance into the back of the net to level the score at one. The goal was his eleventh goal of the season. NYCFC did continue press late for the match-winner, but United goalkeeper Bill Hamid made several key stops to preserve the result.
With the point, NYCFC moves to within five points of Atlanta United FC (16-5-6, 54 points) for the number two seed in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. After going through a stretch in which they played three matches in a week The Pigeons will get a week off before they travel to Montreal to take on the Impact (9/22, 7 PM EST/10PM PST, ESPN +).
As for United (8-11-7, 31 points), while they certainly would have liked all three points a draw does help their playoff chances. They are still currently in eighth place in the East two points behind the New England Revolution (8-10-9, 33 points) for seventh and five points behind the Impact (11-14-3, 36 points). They will begin a seven game homestand on Wednesday when they host Minnesota United FC (7:30 PM EST/10:30 PM PST, ESPN +).
Please enjoy some of our photos from the match courtesy of photographer Joseph Misseri. You can find him on Twitter @JM8999
NYCFC
DC United
