NYCFC Avenges June Loss to Top Seeded New England 2-0

Photo courtesy of USA TODAY Sports, Dennis Schneidler

 

Article by Scott Churchson IG: @schurchson

Columnist and Host Spanglish World Networks, Spanglish Sports World

 

New York. - Taty Castellanos continues his hot run with a pair of goals as the Gents in Blue snap the Revolution's 9 game unbeaten streak 2-0; moving into 4th place. With New England playing with a depleted roster with potential MVP Carles Gil out injured & Matt Polster and Gustavo Bou not coming in until the second half New York took advantage in the 31st and 55th minute all while limiting the Revolution to 1 single shot on goal.

By and large this match was controlled by the Gents in Blue out shooting first place New England 19 to 12. Much to the surprise of many the goal in the 31st minute was initially waved off after Maxi Morales (a pairing with Taty continues to pay dividends) arced a pass over top to Taty who's header goal was called offsides. In what could easily be one of the fastest VARs of the year the play was overturned to a 1-0 New York lead.

In the 55th minute the Maxi and Taty connected again, this time on a cross pass to a streaking Castellanos for his 10th goal of the season. This time no VAR required. Overall a solid win for the Gents in Blue; the fouls were one sided again for New York, this time 17-7 which is a small concern as NYCFC currently sits in 2nd place overall for most fouls in the league with 302 (only DC is higher at 329), but I nitpick. Beating the top ranked team in the league is always a big win, shutting them out when they're the highest scoring team in the league makes a statement. Next up they're in Nashville on Friday and a chance to leapfrog the team for at least 3rd place in the East.

 

5 Notes:

1) With the shutout, New York is now tied for second overall with 8 clean sheets on the season. Only upcoming Nashville is higher with 9 (all by goaltender Joe Willis).

 

2) With last night's 2-0 win New York overtook New England for top spot in the East in goal differential 17 to 16. Currently they are second overall in MLS, behind Seattle.

3)  After his 9 goal drought, Castellanos has been on fire with 7 goals and 3 assists in the past 8 matches.

4) New York's much anticipated Hudson River Derby matchup against the Red Bulls was canceled on Wednesday due to Tropical Storm Henri making the pitch completely waterlogged. Curiously despite the pouring rain the game was delayed for over 2 hours before being eventually canceled; meaning fans had to head home at 10:30 at night in brutal weather. No makeup date for the match has been announced.

5) As mentioned, NYCFC plays in Nashville on Friday with SC having gone 2-1-3 in the month of August. The Gents in Blue currently sit one point behind both Nashville and Orlando with a match in hand. However Nashville is the only team in MLS that has yet to lose at home this season so expect a tough matchup.