First Home Win For NYCFC

Since last season one recurring theme that has been with NYCFC is the fact that they could not grind out results. Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium they got their first home win of the season 3-2 against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The game got to a shaky start for Coach Patrick Viera and his team side as a miscue by goalkeeper Josh Saunders saw the Canadian side go up 1-0 in just the second minute.

After that, NYCFC found their footing and began to dictate the pace of play shortly after. In the 35th minute David Villa tied things up, and six minutes later he had a brace, putting NYCFC up 2-1 on the stroke of half time. And that was one of the positives that the home crowd and most of all Viera wanted. In the three previous home games, scoring and getting goals have been difficult, but there seemed to be more of an offense that had been expected in their previous seven games.

“I was waiting for this win for quite some time and the players as well,” Viera said. “You can see from the last ten minutes it was so tense from the players and even us from the bench. You can see it from with with the players everyday. the way they work week after week. They deserve to win the game and I’m really proud of the team because when you come out of the last three games from the past couple of weeks and to manage to play the way they played physically.”

He added, ” I think it was a fantastic spirit and I am really happy for them.”

 In the 63rd minute, Vancouver drew a questionable penalty call, Costa Rican international star Christian stepped up and slotted the goal home but not without trouble as NYCFC keeper Josh Saunders initially stopped the shot, only for it to rebound which gave Bolanos the opportunity to score.

Ten minutes later NYCFC would regain the lead as Steven Mendoza who came off the bench six minutes earlier scored the goal that would give his team their first home win of the season.

“It’s really important for a lot of things,” said NYCFC  forward David Villa who scored two important goals. “The first of which is that we were able to get the three points. It was the first home victory here and we were able to give that present to our fans. Right now we are getting ready for three games on the road and it’s big to be able to do that right before.”

Viera spoke of Steven Mendoza and how he was frustrated with how he was playing prior to to the match. Josh Saunders was also a topic of discussion, and when asked about his performance Viera stated that Saunders really showed his “Personality” with his performance.

“He was really good,” Viera said. “Mendoza is working really hard. In the last few weeks he has become very frustrated because he didn’t have the impact that he had, but he has been believing in himself and working really hard. And you know when you work really hard it will pay off and that is why the team has been working really hard.

The mid fielder,Mix Diskerud expressed the same feelings as Viera. Diskerud felt that with the way that the team has been playing, they have not gotten what they wanted and or what they deserved. NYCFC this season has dropped six points from winning position. Diskerud, who has found himself left out of the starting line up in the last three games, came on in the 75th minute. Diskerud looks to improve as he has been the subject of criticism after his underwhelming first year with the team.

“Honestly, his is the exact game that we were looking for,” he said. “The last game we unfortunately lost the lead in the last minute but this is the type of game we play and obviously this is the result that we wanted. You know a lot of games where we haven’t gotten the points that we think we deserved so it felt good.”

Added Diskerud: “I think we played most of our games with a great attitude and played positive soccer. We have developed since last year and I want us to keep growing and getting better. We wanted to to get the first home win in front of the crowd. It’s important because they mean so much to us, It’s tough when you think you deserve more wins but we stick together, trained hard.”

Vancouver Whitecaps  Coach Carl Robinson felt that the team deserved a point with they way they played. ” We scored too early”, said the former Welsh international who’s team gained the lead not even two minutes into the match. He felt that his team took their foot off of the petal and became a bit lackadaisical.

Robinson also expressed his anger with the second goal scored by Villa.  Robinson felt that the goal should not have been allowed due to one of his players being held inside of the box. Int he end though this was a win that NYCFC needed and they left the Bronx for the first time with many positive aspects of their game.

They begin a three-game road trip which starts at Eastern Conference rival DC United a week from Sunday, as Viera and his team look to improve and build on the performance that they showed.