Recap: #NYCFC vs #IMFC

The Impact headed to New York, New York for a midweek game against second-placed New York City FC. While New York had some vital pieces missing in their lineup, most importantly David Villa, but this did not mean they would be an easy hurdle for the Impact to cross.

The first half was uneventful with possession going back and forth but few chances going the Impact’s way and while New York was able to build more threatening opportunities. Referee Allan Kelly made a big decision in the first half when there was a penalty shout coming from New York City FC after one player went down in the box. The referee immediately gave a yellow to McNamara for simulation.

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Only five minutes later, Matarrita doubled the lead of the opponents with a perfect lob over the keeper to the far post. The Impact made somewhat of an “attempt” to get back into the game but seemed deflated. In the 76th minute, Lewis made the tie unattainable by scoring another goal for the New Yorkers. The Impact back line was stagnant on the last goal leaving Bush running from side to side with no chance at making a save.

Overall, it was probably a performance to forget, one which exposed problems that were present just a few weeks ago. Undoubtedly, players will want to bounce back quickly on Saturday at home against San Jose.

3 Observations

• Lack of Dominant Forward: Jackson was given a start against New York and as many have said he did anything but seize his opportunity; if anything he showed fans and coaching staff why Mancosu has been given recent starts. Jackson, rather it be from the fact that he hasn’t gotten any starts recently or for more profound unknown reasons, he seemed loss on the pitch. It is uncertain when he will be given his next chance but if and when he needs to show something special that will keep him in the 11 or at the least in the 18, because right now he doesn’t deserve it.

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• As the Great One Said “You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take”: Sorry for the hockey reference, but this statement is as true as ever for the Impact who got 0 shots on target during Wednesday nights game. With only 3 shots and none on target it is very difficult to get a goal but more importantly it allows the opponent not to feel threatened by the adversary.

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• Abominable to Play on This Field at This Level: Ridiculous to make the joke that a player is rounding second base in soccer but that is the reality right now in New York. The New York City FC field is one that always brings a lot of discussion due to the fact that it is as small as possible in relation to league rules. In addition, the grass was extremely long. While players at this caliber should be able to play through any condition it does give an unfair advantage to the home team. Hopefully, this changes in the near future.

Lineups

MTL – G-Evan Bush; D-Jukka Raitala, Víctor Cabrera, Rod Fanni, Michael Petrasso; M-Samuel Piette (Ken Krolicki 82’), Saphir Taider, Shamit Shome; A-Ignacio Piatti, Anthony Jackson-Hamel (Alejandro Silva 59’), Raheem Edwards (Daniel Lovitz 59’)

Unused substitutes – Clément Diop, Chris Duvall, Jeisson Vargas, Matteo Mancosu

NYC – G-Sean Johnson; D-Anton Tinnerholm, Sebastien Ibeagha, Alexander Callens, Ben Sweat; M-Alexander Ring (Kwame Awuah 81’), Ebenezer Ofori, Maximiliano Morález, Jesús Medina, Rodney Wallace (Ronald Matarrita 62’); A-Thomas McNamara (Jonathan Lewis 67’)

Unused substitutes – Brad Stuver, Maxime Chanot, Saad Abdul-Salaam, James Sands

GOALS

NYC – Medina (Morález) 60’

NYC – Matarrita (Medina) 65’

NYC – Lewis (Matarrita, Morález) 76’

CAUTIONS

NYC – McNamara 11’

NYC – Tinnerholm 21’

MTL – Edwards 23’