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MLS New York City FC

Notes & Quotes: New York City FC 1 - 2 Toronto FC

October 23, 2019 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New York City FC News Release


SUMMARY

New York City FC 1 - 2 Toronto FC

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

2019 MLS Cup Playoffs - Eastern Conference Semifinal

Attendance: 19,829

LINEUPS

New York City FC: Sean Johnson; Anton Tinnerholm, Maxime Chanot, Alex Callens, Ronald Matarrita; Keaton Parks (60' Héber), Alex Ring, Maxi Moralez; Alexandru Mitriță, Valentin Castellanos, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi

SUBS UNUSED: Brad Stuver, Sebastien Ibeagha, Ben Sweat, Gary Mackay-Steven, James Sands

Toronto FC: Quentin Westberg; Auro, Laurent Ciman, Chris Mavinga, Justin Morrow (78' Richie Laryea); Marco Delgado, Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio; Tsubasa Endoh (65' Nick DeLeon), Alejandro Pozuelo, Nicolas Benezet (70' Patrick Mullins)

SUBS UNUSED: Alex Bono, Drew Moor, Omar Gonzalez, Erickson Gonzalez

SCORING SUMMARY

47' - TOR - Alejandro Pozuelo

69' - NYC - Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (Assisted By: Maxi Moralez)

90' - TOR - Alejandro Pozuelo (Penalty)

DISCIPLINE SUMMARY

21' - TOR - Laurent Ciman (YC - Unsporting Behavior)

30' - NYC - Alexandru Mitriță (YC - Persistent Infringement)

77' - TOR - Michael Bradley (YC - Unsporting Behavior)

QUOTES

New York City FC Head Coach Domènec Torrent

On this game being like a final...

"I've said many times, in the final I have experience like that. If you make a final, you are in or you are out. I think in the second half we played much better than the first half. Sometimes soccer is not fair to the players and that happened tonight, that's my opinion. Congratulations to Toronto and good luck in the future and good luck in the playoff. It is what it is. I've said in the press conference many times, it is about the mistakes. That happened tonight and I think the players deserve more and more, especially in the second half but in the last moment, you know penalty."

On the team turning it around after the first goal...

"What happened in the first goal happened because you make mistakes, everybody can make mistakes. Some people will talk about what is written but it is not about that, we made a mistake and we played much better after the goal. The reason why is because when you lose the game, you attack all the time you take risks, more risks than the opening defending deep, and you create opportunities. We lose the ball, long ball, we make a mistake but that can happen in soccer. I remember how important for us Maxime Chanot is...This Club deserves to win something, over seven months, we played really well in my opinion.

On Toronto FC coming out strong...

"They played well, especially in the first half, they made high press and it was not easy for us to play, not comfortable moving the ball. Maybe we got nervous a little bit, that happens when you are not used to working finals and semi-finals. Sometimes you need to lose semifinals to be in the final. You have to learn today [from] what happened. I am sure next game, [the] next semifinals...they will remember what happened tonight."

New York City FC Midfielder Alex Ring

Thoughts on 2019 season...

"Obviously, an emotional state now, but for me this was for nothing because we didn't go to the next one."

What changed in the second half...

"We started showing up. I don't know where we were the first half. I thought Toronto was much better. They played much better than we did. And it's a shame because like I said, the last nine months were for nothing because we weren't ready today. They deserved the win in the end because they were the better team in the end and that's really hard to admit because everyone knows what the stakes were today. And us not being there in the first half, it wasn't good enough."

New York City FC Goalkeeper Sean Johnson

Talk about your team's performance in this one...

"The emotions are still pretty fresh. In a game where we had everything to play for, we just weren't good enough today. You look at the course of the game and we start out for 45 minutes and get lucky to escape 0-0 at halftime. We didn't show up with the right energy, the right focus, and mistakes happen but I think it was a collective. In big games and big moments, we've gotta show up and at the end of the game, when it comes to the playoffs, we have to show up. And for 90 minutes, Toronto did what they had to do to get the lead twice and it's disappointing. We put so much into the long year (a) 34 game season, postseason, international breaks, Open Cup, all that jazz. Everything. From first place in the East, best points total. All of that goes out the window if you can't make anything of it and yeah, (the) offseason is here and it's a harsh reality for those who haven't experienced this yet. For those who were here last year, it's a repeat. And we said it last year that it wasn't good enough and we'd do all that we could to come back this year and make things better, but we fell short again. So, the support we had from the fans all year was incredible and tonight they spurred us on till the very last minute of the game. So, or that, we're thankful cause that didn't change all year. But yeah, tonight wasn't good enough."

Did the break impact your performance...

"To be honest I don't think we can make any excuse. From the amount of time that we had to whatever meaningful games we had in that time period, you can write the narrative however you want. But at the end of the day, we have to take the responsibility as players. We worked hard enough to put ourselves in this position and with this position comes responsibility to take care of business when the moment comes up and yeah, you can go around the room and ask any player. They won't put it down to anything that happened over the past week and a half. For us, the moment was now, and it simply wasn't good enough for a team to go out the way we did and now we're looking at another offseason."

New York City FC Defender Anton Tinnerholm

Thoughts on today's game ....

"Seriously, I don't know. We've been fighting so hard, every single training session, every single game, every minute out there we have been fighting for each other and it comes down to one game and weren't smart enough to win this game. Right now, it's devastating; I don't really know what to say (to you guys). We have to be clever when it matters most....We have come together as a group in a fantastic way and we all know that this format is one game, all or nothing. We weren't good enough, it was a tight game, maybe they were a little bit better in the first half and we were way better than them in the second half. We gave them two goals, then it's hard to win some football games, they scored on their chances and we didn't. It's devastating, it's hard to put my feelings into words, it's really disappointing."

Toronto FC Head Coach Greg Vanney

Thoughts on tonight's performance...

"It was outstanding. We have a lot of respect for them [NYCFC] as a team. We came in the first half we wanted to eliminate any time they had on the ball and we put a lot into the first half. It's a small field, we were pressing them, we were making it difficult, we were winning balls, we were attacking again. The only thing that didn't come out of the first half was a lead. In every other aspect I felt that we just dominated it. Second half started out okay and then they rotated into a diamond, so our matchups started to get a little mixed. It took us a few minutes and we end up giving up a goal to really get that reorganized but I think just before we brought Richie [Laryea] in I think it settled down again. The guys just battled through the moments that weren't perfect but they also, I thought, they really dominated in the first half and they're performance. The mentality is really strong with this team, the work rate is really strong, the quality is there, they believe in themselves, and anything is possible when all those things are put together."

On Alejandro Pozuelo rising to the occasion in tonight's match...

"He's had what four PK's against them [NYCFC] this year? I guess at this point, Sean Johnson has seen a lot of him, with him [Pozuelo] going to that side that Sean [Johnson] went to when he dove twice, he had one save last game. I think that set him up to go down the middle, it's late in the game, it's tough for him to stand in the goal. It's a gutsy play by Poz but he was great on the night. He held up the ball for us, he brought people into the play, he moved around, he fought for things, he helped lead us defensively, he was great."

On NYCFC's formation change that caused the play to tilt...

"It was part of it because they [NYCFC] pushed up a second forward. When they pushed up the second forward, it changed our rotation to step out to them defensively. Then we ended up in between, they brought up [Ronald] Matarrita inside, they went to a diamond. So, our matchups weren't as clean as they were earlier in the game and they were able to find these little pockets of time on us, and they were just running guys through our back line and playing pretty direct. But the directness came from the fact that they had time on the ball and they could put balls behind us. We had to reconfigure as a group and it took us a few minutes and a couple subs to get everybody into the right spots and to bring calm back to the game. And then I felt like we were starting to get ourselves back into the game and Richie [Laryea] is so elusive on the right side and part of it was just trying to get him on the ball and in attacking positions and let him run at guys. When guys are tired, he's a disaster to deal with. He did what he's done so many times this year which is eliminate guys and they drive to the end line and get himself into position to cross. They're guy chose to try to win the ball and that was that."

Toronto FC Midfielder Michael Bradley

Thoughts on the match...

"The mentality to understand what the game was going to be about. To just go for it. To lay everything we had on the field. That part was incredible. We were on top of the game in every way. Aside from a play or two they could barely get in our hand. It's a shame we didn't have something to show for it in the first half. We got a good start to the second half. We get the goal. On one hand, disappointing to drop and let them get back into the game. It's also the makeup of the playoffs. When it is single elimination, at that point they got 35 minutes left in their season. There is no measured approach at that point in the game. I think we could have done a little bit better on goal. We have played on as many big days in the last few years as any team in this league and we have guys who understand what these games are about and it showed."

On building momentum towards the Eastern Conference Finals...

"We talked for the last two or three months about this idea that as the games get bigger, we got to continue to improve, we have to continue to be ready. I think we have done that. We continue to understand that with every game the stakes go up. The competition, the intensity goes up and that can't take us by surprise. The mentality of the team to come here and play the best team in the league (LAFC aside). That part is special. When you can win games like this, the experience only serves to build the confidence."

On who he prefers to face next...

"They are both good teams (Atlanta and Philadelphia). Let's see how that game plays out. It's the playoffs. Every game is going to be difficult. Every game is going to take a big effort. Game changes depending on who you play. We look forward to it."

Toronto FC Midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo

Thoughts on the match...

"We know before the game we had big test. They try to play good football. I think we had very good options in the first half to set up. Their goalkeeper did good. In the second half it was more difficult because they tried to push more. But we know we needed to wait a little bit. Thank God because we won the game."

On the penalty kick...

"The keeper knows how I shoot because it is my fourth penalty (against Sean Johnson). Before when I try to shoot a penalty, I try to shoot in the middle. In the 87th minute he cannot stay in the middle. We won 2-1. Very good result. We are very happy."

On scoring the first goal...

"It was a mistake for the defense. The defender tried to play to the keeper, and we tried to press and finally we scored."

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