New York is Blue

On a stunning day in Queens just yards away from the construction site of their new stadium, New York City FC had a statement game against their cross river rivals. The boys in blue sent New York Red Bulls back home with a 2-0 defeat in a game that could have been more lopsided.

Just two weeks ago, the narratives were completely different with New York City suffering an embarassing home loss to CF Montreal and Red Bull decimating LA Galaxy, scoring seven goals in the process. Most fans of New York City FC were nervous about a derby game with their team playing so inconsistently. What a difference time can make!

From the onset, this game was all blue. City was content to absorb a bit of pressure from Red Bulls, but turn that into quick and dangerous counters. City had a kigh press of their own that yielded good results. In the twelfth minute, Alonzo Martinez received a pass from Justin Haak, made a nifty move to free himself outside the box and took a rocket of a shot to send the home side in front.

Martinez was denied just minutes later on a break away by a good save from Carlos Coronel. It seemed City had planned to take advantage of Martinez’s speed against the Red Bull high line. The game plan seemd designed to expose them on the counter with Martinez making dangerous runs throughout the match.

Just after half, City found their second goal off a huge mistake by Coronel. The keeper flubbed a pass out of the back sending it short. Martinez pounced and delivered the ball to Maxi Moralez who danced around Coronel and sent the ball into an open goal. From that point, New York City Never looked back.

Pascal Jansen was happy with his team post match. “If you look at the first half, I think we should’ve already scored two or three goals, but that’s somewhat of a habit of ours so far this season—missing chances. So, I’m happy with the second goal, because it also gave us a bit of rest. But my team was very determined to keep a clean sheet as well, so I’m happy with both [results].”

Haak echoed the sentiments. “It felt great. The stadium was amazing, and the fans all came out to support us after what’s been a difficult week. This win is perfect for us, and hopefully we can build on it. Getting the assist for Alonso [Martínez]—I can’t take too much credit for that; it was mostly his shot, but it felt good to contribute. If I can keep doing that, it helps a lot. I’m just happy we got the win today.”

After a rough few weeks of back to back games and inconsistent play, it was a welcome relief to put together a complete game. Jansen commented after the match that he was already looking forward to the next match against Chicago to see if the team can keep it up. That seems to be the question for this season, but for now, at least, New York is blue.