New York City FC vs. Philadelphia Union: 1-1 Tie Match Recap & Commentary by Peachy Deegan P.S. Regis Philbin Do You Know You Have a Fellow Notre Dame Alum on this Team That Was In Your Dorm?
It's not who you know, it's Whom You Know and we're thrilled to cover the first soccer match of the season for us, third home game for the New York City Football Club in their 2015 inaugural season. There is so much more than pinstripes at Yankee Stadium now, and New York, which considers itself a beacon of internationalism, should be selling out these games (Peachy's American - even when she was on the air in Ireland she said games not matches) to our city of 8.5 million (as of July 2014 according to nyc.gov). The United Nations is here of course, but wouldn't you rather be celebrating a topic that unites (sports) rather than divides? (politics)!?!?! New York, this is your chance to be part of the history of this team from the start, not someone who is a bandwagon-jumper much later on that has missed out on some fantastic action. (get your tickets here!)
Did you know in the 1920's there were five soccer teams in New York City? The game began with a tunnel procession by the NYPD and NYFD as New York's starting eleven took the field, which gets the sprinkler treatment before the game starts. To us, it seemed like the soccer Zamboni! Kevin Massey sang the national anthem, and he's of A Gentlemen's Guide to Love & Murder, which we reviewed when our pal Bryce was in it.
A few days ago, we told you Josh Saunders (goalkeeper) was player of the month, and in the opening minutes he made some commendable saves that started the momentum going in New York's favor. There was once a saying that "Only God Saves More than Roy [Patrick]" - another goalkeeper, and although we've only seen Saunders play once we think that maxim might apply to him as well. As a city, New York is rich in goal from him to Lundqvist. Although the first half yielded no goals, that's not the real story as New York had possession 61.9% of the time, had 76.3% passing accuracy and won 61.4% of the duels. Why watch Game of Thrones if you can see a duel in person live here?!?!
We had high hopes for a win after
Mehdi Ballouchy scored an exciting goal in the second half, but alas, Philadelphia scored with just minutes remaining, resulting in a tie. Overtime would have been fun, but there is no OT.
The stadium itself puts on a great show from the fan cams to identifying famous faces in the crowd. We saw Placido Domingo and Jose Calderon...and speaking of notable New Yorkers, Regis Philbin (read Regis's book!), retired guy we believe you are, we think you should join the party. (We met him, but we don't know him.) We noticed defender Jeb Brovsky is a fellow Notre Dame Alum for you, and we had a chance to talk to him after the game. We asked him about his Notre Dame experience and how it compares to playing professionally in New York, and of course we asked what he'd say to Regis if he came to a game.
"I actually was in Regis's dorm, but I don't know him," said Jeb Brovsky. "We welcome any Notre Dame alum or Boston College alum at NYCFC! Notre Dame was just a special place. It's a family when you go there and graduate, you don't really leave. You stay in touch with everyone there and the massive alumni organization and this year, we lost Father Ted, which was huge. Now I've joined the New York City family and this is very similar. All the guys that are special enough to be part of this inaugural year is just incredible, and we're excited about it." Brovksy played all four years in college and graduated in December 2010.
"There's alumni week at Notre Dame for the men's soccer team next week- I'll be playing in Chicago so I'll see a couple of guys in Chicago, but they'll have their alumni game."
New York City FC are the newest professional soccer team in the New York City area and the first MLS club to play in the five boroughs. The Club live and breathe NYC's diverse culture and embrace the inclusion of all five boroughs in their philosophy. NYCFC are supported by their majority owner, City Football Group, a global football network that includes sister clubs Manchester City FC and Melbourne City FC and a minority stake in Yokohama F. Marinos. The club will play their inaugural season at Yankee Stadium in 2015. The New York Yankees are a minority owner.
The NYCFC tells us:
Mehdi Ballouchy might have rued his missed opportunity to score in the first half, but his second-half finish certainly erased any ill feelings.
The New York City FC midfielder had a brilliant first touch to create space from a nearby defender then curled his left-footed attempt into the back of the net in the 57th minute to give the Club the lead, but once again, the Philadelphia Union scored late to spoil the party.
C.J. Sapong scored in the 86th minute to tie the game as the two clubs played to a 1-1 draw in front of 20,461 supporters on Thursday evening at Yankee Stadium.
“We talked about it as a group and said we had to have better first halves than we have and I think we did that tonight,” Ballouchy said. “I think if we replicate that performance over however many games we have left, I think we’ll be in a good position.”
Ballouchy, who was named the Heineken Star of the Match, had the match’s best chance in the 28th minute following a lovely touch from captain David Villa. Adam Nemec passed the ball from the right across the field toward Villa, whose backheel set up the on-rushing Ballouchy for an ideal chance. Unfortunately, he curled his attempt over the goal.
The 32-year-old Moroccan certainly made up for the miss.
Javier Calle, starting at left back, cut inside and fed the ball toward Khiry Shelton. The rookie forward, who was making his first-ever start for the Club, remained strong despite a defender on his hip and was able to turn to his right to create space. Shelton continued sliding the ball across the field to Ballouchy, who was set up at the corner of the 18-yard box.
With a defender closing down, Ballouchy did an inside foot flick shifting the ball from his right foot onto his left to create space. He proceeded to place his attempt past Philadelphia goalie John McCarthy for the one-goal advantage.
For the second straight match, the Union (1-3-3; 6 points) caused New York City FC (1-2-3; 6 points) heartache. The two clubs met just five days prior at PPL Park. After the Union took a 1-0 lead on Saturday afternoon, New York City FC equalized in the second half. Philadelphia scored in the 92nd minute to take all three points with a 2-1 victory heading into the rematch.
On Thursday, New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis fielded a more attacking side with the insertion of Calle at left back and Shelton at right midfield. The Club came out the aggressor in the first half.
Nemec had an opportunity to put the home team ahead off a header from 6 yards out in the 27th minute, but his attempt went over the bar. Shelton’s pace on the outside paid dividends, forcing McCarthy out of the box in precarious positions on multiple occasions. The rookie slipped the ball into the box both times, but it was cleared out by defenders.
"We came out the aggressor in the first half and did it right off the bat and again in the second half as well,” Shelton said. “We were on the front foot in both the first and second halves.”
New York City FC made two substitutions at halftime. Kwadwo Poku replaced Villa, who left with a slight hamstring injury, and Kwame Watson-Siriboe came on for Jason Hernandez (calf) in the center of defense.
The Club returns to the field again on Sunday, welcoming the Portland Timbers to Yankee Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. ET.
"Besides giving up that goal I thought we played really well,” Poku said. “We created a lot of chances. It’s part of the game – you’re going to miss some chances. I thought it was a pretty good game. We wanted all three points, but unfortunately we didn’t get them.
“We have to keep our heads up and focus on the next game Sunday.”
***
Thank you Marty!
