MLS New York City FC

New York City Topples D.C. United 3-1

August 13, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New York City FC News Release


BRONX | New York City FC earned a vital three points in the race for the Major League Soccer playoffs with a dramatic 3-1 victory over D.C. United in front of a sell-out crowd of 28,262 on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

New York City FC snapped a two-game losing streak with the victory and improve to 7-11-6 (27 points), while Eastern Conference-leading D.C. United fall to 13-8-5 (44 points).

With the score knotted at 1-1 in the 80th minute, midfielder Andrea Pirlo played a pinpoint perfect pass over the top to David Villa. Villa, who somehow controlled the ball while sandwiched by D.C. United defenders Sean Franklin and Bobby Boswell, fired the go-ahead goal home.

It is Villa's Club-leading 14th goal of his debut campaign in the league.

New York City FC weren't done, though, as Kwadwo Poku sealed all three points for the home side with a goal in the 88th minute.

Poku received the ball on the right flank and drove on Boswell, turning him in and out and in again before blasting a shot past Bill Hamid at the near post for a 3-1 advantage.

The Ghanaian midfielder was also involved in the Club's first goal of the evening in the 51st.

Villa had the ball on the left side and played a lovely through ball to Poku in space on the right. Poku drove into the box and dribbled past Hamid to his right before feeding the ball across the middle of the goal mouth to Tommy McNamara, who slotted it home.

It was Poku's team-leading seventh assist and McNamara's fifth goal of the season.

After a back-and-forth first 35 minutes, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 37th.

Pirlo's attempted back pass near midfield was picked off by D.C. United forward Chris Rolfe, who beat a defender and streaked down the left side. Rolfe got to the 18-yard line and slid the ball across the middle to Alvaro Saborio whose side-footed effort went into the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage.

The score remained 1-0 at halftime.

New York City FC came out the stronger side in the second stanza, dominating possession and it seemed only a matter of time before the pressure paid dividends with a goal.

Six minutes into the half it did.

New York City FC begin a two-match road swing with a match in Columbus on August 19. Kickoff against the Crew is 7:30 p.m. ET from MAPFRE Stadium (YES Network, WFAN, WADO).

POST-GAME NOTES:

New York City FC, D.C. United

Sunday August 13, 2015: 7:00 p.m. EDT

MLS Regular Season

Yankee Stadium

Scoring Summary:

36' Alvaro Saborio, DC (Assisted by Chris Rolfe)

51' Thomas McNamara, NYC (Assisted by Kwadwo Poku)

80' David Villa, NYC (Assisted by Andrea Pirlo)

88' Kwadwo Poku, NYC (Assisted by Thomas McNamara)

Misconduct Summary:

31' Shay Facey, NYC (Yellow Card: Foul)

75' Thomas McNamara, NYC (Yellow Card: Foul)

80' David Villa, NYC (Yellow Card: Excessive celebration)

Lineups:

New York City FC: Josh Saunders, Jason Hernandez, Angelino, Shay Facey, RJ Allen (Andoni Iraola, 52'), Andrew Jacobson, Andrea Pirlo, Thomas McNamara, Kwadwo Poku (Patrick Mullins, 90'+3'), Mix Diskerud (Sebastian Velasquez, 79'), David Villa

Unused substitutes: Ryan Meara, Jefferson Mena, Jeb Brovsky, Pablo Alvarez

TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 9; FOULS: 9; OFFSIDE: 6; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3.

D.C. United: Bill Hamid, Bobby Boswell, Chris Korb (Miguel Aguilar, 79'), Steve Birnbaum, Taylor Kemp, Sean Franklin, Marcus Halsti (Michael Farfan, 65'), Conor Doyle (Chris Pontius, 76'), Alvaro Saborio, Chris Rolfe

Unused substitutes: Andrew Dykstra, Kofi Opare, Jairo Arrieta, Facundo Coria

TOTAL SHOTS: 5; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 14; OFFSIDE: 5; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 6.

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

Referee's Assistants: Adam Wienckowski and Joe Fletcher

4th Official: David Gantar

Attendance: 28,262

Notes:

- Midfielder Thomas McNamara has now scored a goal in four of the last five home matches, ranking him second in team goals with five on the season.

- Captain David Villa now has ten goals in his last eight matches and has 14 total goals this season (the third most in MLS).

- Midfielder Andrea Pirlo recorded his first assist on David Villa's 80th minute goal.

- Kwadwo Poku is now leading the team with six assists this season.

- Tonight was New York City FC's fifth consecutive home game sell-out.

POST GAME QUOTES:

New York City FC Head Coach Jason Kreis

On the recent run of form...

"I think our team has been doing some really nice things. I think attacking wise we've been quite good for many games now. We've let ourselves down defensively a bit, and I think that comes from having new players that have not played a lot together. I think 3 out of the back 4 are new players that are brand new to the team. We have Andrea Pirlo who is brand new to the team. We have Frank Lampard now who is brand new to the team. So obviously there are going to be some tactical changes. I am hopeful that we are sticking our flag in the ground right now and will move forward positively."

On if this game is a measuring stick...

"I think it's an important win. It could be a huge win for us, and a season changer for us, and a momentum changer for us. I'm hopeful of that, and I'm hopeful the locker room feels the same way."

New York City FC Forward Kwadwo Poku

On starting...

"I wasn't 100% sure, but anytime, I'm ready. We keep training every day. I'm ready as always. I don't need anything. You just need to get your mind straight and when he told me I was starting this game, I was ready."

On scoring...

"It was great because I missed a chance like 5 minutes before that chance and I was so mad. It was 2-1 and what was going on in my mind was like 'man, you've got to finish this game somehow before they tie this game.' So, I was upset for a little bit but when I got that goal it was like, finally, I can breathe now."

On playing with David Villa and Andrea Pirlo...

"They have been talking to me a lot and been telling me what I can do and where I need to improve and what I can do to come into the team more. I'm listening to them and I'm doing it. It's working."

On the fans...

"Every time I see them up there cheering for us, I feel like I can give them everything I have to make them happy. I don't know how to thank them for supporting us. They should keep supporting us and we're going to make it fun."

New York City FC Midfielder Andrea Pirlo

On Kwadwo Poku...

"He played a fantastic game. He had done so before against Orlando and the other teams. He is a player I did not know before. He has incredible physical strength and he is growing so well and so much. He works very hard and he will continue to do so and grow."

On his pass to David Villa for the goal...

"I needed to get forgiven for the bad pass that lead to the first goal. Villa was really good at picking up on it and it ended up really well."

On his amazing passing skills...

"I was lucky enough to be born that way. Of course there was a lot of training and practice, but deep down it is a God given gift, and I do thank my parents who gave it to me."

On halftime adjustments...

"During the week we worked really hard. We changed our style and the way of thinking, because we could not continue to work like that. There was of course the mistake of the goal in the first half, but the team continued to do better and we played well in the second half."

On the quality of the team's performance...

"We were convinced that we were able to do a lot better. Not just in terms of our ranking in the standing but to further the morale in the team. We've been working really hard and thank God that the fruits were there for us to eat tonight."

New York City FC Midfielder Tommy McNamara

On Andrea Pirlo...

"You could see the ability Andrea has. He plays passes that other people frankly don't see. On our team and the opposing team. He's extremely dangerous when he gets the time and the space and he showed his ability today."

Check out the New York City FC Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from August 13, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central