Armchair Javier – Impact Steals a Point from NYCFC

Man, that was thrilling!

After watching a largely mundane game, likely due to the awful field conditions (seriously what is that field), Dominic Oduro finished a beautiful service from Didier Drogba.

And what a finish it was, largely providing the only exciting play throughout the entire game. It seemed as if the Impact still seemed deflated from the devastating loss at the hands of TFC just 4 days prior, largely passing the ball around the defensive third of the field to hold possession. Unfortunately, you cannot score goals from that position, and hopefully, the instant confidence boost that scoring a late equalizer like that should provide will have the Impact coming out guns blazing against the Rapids on Saturday.

Man of the Match: Laurent Ciman

I struggled to truly find a standout from this game. I could have gone with the heroics of Dominic Oduro, however he was on for a short time and only influenced the play once. I could have gone Didier Drogba, for his sublime service, and just overall level of excitement he indices whenever touching the ball. I could have gone the path of the surprising Maxim Tissot, for delivering a fantastic performance, but more on him later.

But for today, I went the easy, safe route, that being Laurent Ciman.

Game in and game out, I find myself incredibly impressed with how amazing Laurent Ciman truly is. He is simply a class above every other defender in MLS, possibly even a top 5 player in the league overall.

Going into a game against NYCFC, of course, it is the oppositions duty to stop Spanish superstar David Villa, or "the Assassin" as some refer to him as. Since joining MLS, it is tough to disagree with anyone referring to him as an assassin, as he is been able to score goals in droves.

Tonight, Laurent Ciman was tasked with stopping him, and that is exactly what he did. Laurent Ciman was the peanut butter to Villa's jelly, he was the eggs to Villa's bacon, in other words, he was paired to Villa all game long. All game, he followed the talented scorer, much like last week against Giovinco, and was able to shut him down.

The fact he was able to do this against such a talented player, just continues to show how great Ciman is at what he does. Looking forward to more performances like this.

Honorable Mention: Didier Drogba

Drogba wins this space just for that spectacular service on the goal from Oduro.

While I thought it was crazy to keep Drogba outside of the box, where he could deliver the glancing header, I do not think there is anyone else on this team capable of such a quality service. Just incredible.

Outside of this, Drogba was noticeably dangerous whenever touching the ball, even if some of these opportunities ended with way word shots. I see Drogba claiming MOTM honors more times then not coming soon.

Most Surprising Performance: Maxim Tissot

Now this is a performance I did not see coming. I almost even gave Tissot the MOTM award for his standout performance tonight.

For a player that was largely an afterthought in many Impact's fans mind coming into the season, Tissot made a very good impression for his extremely high work rate throughout tonight's game.

If anyone needs an example, just find the 20-30 second stretch of play where Tissot started with the ball on his own side, attempted to make a play, then continued to chase down a New York player on the other end of the field.

While largely thinking "Where are you going?", I also was incredibly impressed with how hard he was working. He never stopped running. Some players on this team could learn a thing or two from the young academy product.

Most Disappointing Performance: Ambroise Oyongo

Oyongo started the season poorly, landing in this space after the first game against the Whitecaps. He then got injured, and came back only a few weeks ago. He showed inconsistency upon his return, which I chalked up to "he needs time".

Unfortunately, his inconsistent play has continued, and it is incredibly noticeable while watching the game.

For a player that I had such high hopes for entering this season, he has largely been disappointing in his play. I hope this is still his "returning from injury" phase, and he is able to regain his stellar form from last season.

But that's just one man's opinion, let me know yours by tweeting @javiergonz1994 or by leaving a comment below!

Man of the Match Awards -€” Thus Far:

Laurent Ciman -€” 3

Ignacio Piatti -€” 2

Kyle Bekker -€” 1

N/A -€” 1

Additional Notes:

That field is awful. Just dreadful. It is crazy that the MLS lets them play on that. People have issues with turf, but seem to want to play on that surface? Joke.

MLS refereeing back it again. Continues to be the worst part of MLS.