It was a beautiful day in the Bronx on Sunday when LAFC traveled to the East Coast to take on NYCFC. The game was a match up between two of last year’s top teams and it did not disappoint with a balanced match between two very good sides.
NYCFC played perhaps their best game of the season so far and looked like they were developing a style of play and buying into the Dome Torrent’s method. They liked up Maxi Moralez up top centrally with him quickly receiving the ball and flicking onward to the speedy wingers of Alexandru Mitrita and Taty Castelleanos. The plan worked beautifully in the thirty ninth minute when Moralez sprang Mitrita free down the left wing. Pushing the ball forward with blazing pace he quickly cut back in front of goal, losing two defenders, and fired his first goal home for the club. But the lead would not last long as a bad give away by Maxime Chanot allowed Latif Blessing to find Carlos Vela in the box and Vela quickly leveled the score. Neither team could be disappointed at the half but NYCFC surprisingly looked the better of the two squads.
In the second half NYCFC found themselves ahead again with some nice work by substitute, Ben Sweat, along the touchline to find Alex Ring in front of the goal. The captain powered his shot into the back of the net. Again, it was Vela who leveled up soon after with a PK. Sweat was called for kicking Blessing in the box and Vela did not miss his opportunity.
Except for two sloppy play, NYCFC looked poised and ready to spring on the attach. they were dangerous at every position. James Sands again showed his age did not matter and put in a fine performance in midfield. Sand’s continues efficiency meant that Ring could push up higher in the pitch and allowed for NYCFC’s second goal.
The team seems to be executing at a higher level each match and Torrent’s system might be settling in. There still remains one glaring positional lapse, though, in the lack of a true striker. Jonathan Lewis and Jesus Medina were brought on as subs to try and find the winning goal but were largely lost in the game. NYCFC needed a true point man they could focus the attack on in the end and were left with nothing more than another point at home.
They remain undefeated but also winless. Torrent knows that is not good enough. “Even the top teams when they win, the first thing is to keep control and play with confidence. But if you are able to score it’s easier for us after that to play and we need to score more goals. In the first half, maybe, we can score three goals, we deserve three goals, [for LAFC], maybe one or two. But I repeat, I know it’s not good because when you draw the game at home, it’s not a good result for us. But if you ask me about the performance, I think we played well.”
There are rumors coming out of Croatia that NYCFC are about to sign a striker in the coming days. If they can accomplish this, the twelve days during the international break will be the perfect time to work the new man into the system. It will be exciting to see the next stage in their development in Toronto on March 29.
