Rebounding from their midweek Leagues Cup penalty kick loss, New York City Football club dominated Inter Miami FC at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night. They won 2-0 but the score easily could have been much higher and pundits around the league including Fox Soccer’s Alexi Lalas are saying NYCFC are the playing the best soccer in MLS right now. The win Saturday gave NYCFC a six game unbeaten streak in Major League Soccer and pushed them up to second place in the Eastern Conference. It seems a long shot but with the way NYCFC are playing right now, it is possible for them to give New England a run for first.
The table currently has New England sitting with a comfortable lead at 43 points to NYCFC at 31, but NYCFC have two games in hand on The Revolution and face off at home with New England on August 28. If NYCFC can get all six points from the two games they have in hand and defeat New England at the end of the month, that skyrockets them up nine points and puts them within striking distance in the East.
Maybe this is overly optimistic thinking but it is not implausible with the way City have been playing lately.
Saturday’s game against Miami was never in question with Maxi Moralez hooking up with Valentin Castellanos on a great cross in the 20th minute. The two Argentinians are starting to really link up for some fine goals in recent games. Indeed, Castellanos’s scoring woes seem to have ended as he converted again with a panenka penalty kick right before half. Castellanos could have even had a hattrick by half had he converted a one on one with Miami’s keeper a few minutes earlier. The striker’s recent form cannot be over looked and was praised by Ronny Deila after the match.
“It was really great play, we played from behind as well. We switched the play, the pass from Maxi was superb, and the finish, I don’t need to say anything about that – it was top, top class. He’s difficult to play against, Taty, again playing all the games and to put in that performance, fighting like he did on Wednesday night is something I’m really impressed by. Good to get two more goals, now he has three in two games, we have a top striker.”
Aug 14, 2021; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; New York City FC forward Valentin Castellanos (11) and Inter Miami CF defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez (6) go up for a header in the second half at Red Bull Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
But Castellanos’s form is not the only thing to be bullish on for NYCFC. Saturday saw the return from injury of Thalles Magno who came on to rest Castellanos toward the end of the match. The Brazilian star has been out for almost a month with some pain in his knee and his return, coupled with the recent play of fellow Brazilian, Thiago Andrade, makes NYC formattable up top alone.
Aug 14, 2021; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; New York City FC forward Thiago Eduardo Andrade (8) controls the ball in the second half against Inter Miami CF at Red Bull Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Then you have the players who are over-preforming expectations. Newcomer Santiago Rodriguez seems like a revelation for the club. He can play the number 10 and spell Moralez or can provide a real threat on the wing. The Uruguayan already has great chemistry with Castellanos and that is starting to show itself on the pitch. Castellanos had nothing but praise for the new addition.
“Santi is a very good new addition to the team. He’s adapting very fast to our style of play, and we actually have very good chemistry, and he has very good technique. It’s easier to have chemistry with players that play similar types of football, and that’s what happens throughout South America. It’s been easy to develop that chemistry so fast.”
Jesus Medina is another player finally living up to his potential. This season has seen him grow in confidence and become one of the top goal scorers on the team. NYCFC have true quality depth off the bench at every position but the player pool could get even sweeter soon with the return of another Brazilian, Heber. Deila mentioned it after the game when talking about Magno’s return.
“I think it’s important to have another forward, and we have Heber also coming in a while. Of course, it’s a lot of responsibility for Taty, but he’s done really good this year, but it’s just a start. Off the pitch he does everything right all the time, he’s fit and he battles. Right now he can do it alone, but we have more depth in the squad and we could play two up front as well when Talles is more fit and Heber is back again. What Taty has done this year has been top class.”
Indeed Castellanos was top class Saturday night and the team put on a show. The whole team is playing really well together and defending from the front to the back. They recorded yet another clean sheet making that six times they have held opposing teams scoreless since April. Couple that defensive power with the fact that they have one of the highest expected goal statistics in the league and they are a force any team is not looking forward to facing.
New York City have a packed schedule coming up in the next two months but they look only to get better during those months. The Revolution are limping a bit with Carlos Gil out with injury. If New York City keep getting points at home and on the road…watch out, New England. That game on the 28th of August is going to be on fire.
