The Lions and the Citizens played to a one-one draw in Gameweek 1, just as they did on February 21st in the Carolina Challenge Cup. Only this time it was on national TV, in front of 62,000 screaming fans at the Citrus Bowl, and was their inaugural MLS game.
The sell-out crowd clearly had the Lions fired up, because they immediately had New York City FC back on their heels with an attack that was relentless and varied. And yet, in spite of that, Slovakian striker Adam Nemec still had a lovely chance in the eighth minute which, had he buried it, would have silenced the Orlando faithful.
NYCFC vs OCSC: One is the Onliest Number
What did silence the crowd came a short five minutes later when, fielding a high floating cross on a set piece from Kaka, NYCFC goalie Josh Saunders, while pulling the ball away from a charging Seb Hines, and simultaneously staying out of goal, slammed his head into the goal post, raising a prodigious welt and serious discussion about concussion, brain safety medical protocols, and whether he should be removed from the pitch.
Saunders stayed in, however, and showed neither fear nor fogginess, taking the ball away moments later from Kaka on an attacking run, making a huge save on a rocket the Brazilian launched in the 37th minute, and stopping the Trinidadian midfielder Kevin Molino’s shot late in the first half. Indeed, Orlando had many chances right before half time, and had they either finished them, or had Saunders not been superb in goal, NYCFC would have gone into halftime trailing.
As such, NYCFC came out with more fire in the second half, though still, curiously, unable to get David Villa involved in play. One isn’t sure whether this was because Orlando was swarming him defensively, or because his teammates couldn’t find him, but the result was the same: An attack that fizzled in the final third.
Which was one of the reasons many NYCFC fans were happy to see rookie Khiry Shelton come on to the pitch in the 62nd minute (though most expected him to replace the more or less invisible Nemec and not Mehdi Ballouchy, who had been hustling well all game long).
And Shelton, as he has done time and again, immediately had an impact, streaking down the right side with a shot that went just wide in the 68th minute, and another that was blocked in the 75th as he forced Brek Shea, for about the first time all match, to do some serious defending, and give up the corner that would lead to NYCFC’s first goal.
In a way, there is ironic justice that Mix Diskerud – the US-born, foreign-raised player – scored NYCFC’s first goal, and not David Villa, or, in an alternate universe, Frank Lampard. A goal from one of the big name European signings would have been in keeping with the global personality that is a hallmark of the Mother Club, or even with the S.O.P. of NYCFC’s other parent, the big-name-loving Yankees.
But it was Mix Diskerud, lofting a beautiful arcing, curving shot into the upper corner past Donovan Rickett’s outstretched hands, off of a lovely feed from David Villa (who nutmeged his defender to put the ball in Diskerud’s path), who will be remembered as the Citizens’ first goal scorer. And more than that, it was a goal of teamwork, a goal that demonstrated instinct and chemistry between players who are still getting to know each other. A goal, in other words, that was as auspicious as it was historic. And it instantly silenced the Citrus Bowl.
But not for long.
Now, there are those who hate Aurelien Collin, calling him a thug, a dirty player, and likening him to all manner of social detritus. Whatever one’s opinion of him, he certainly didn’t do himself any favors with his foolish tackle on David Villa in the 83rd minute. Generally speaking, studs up is a red card. Studs up on a Designated Player is doubly so. Studs up on a Designated Player of David Villa’s caliber, triply so. And studs up on a designated player of David Villa’s caliber in front of 62,000 fans, a national TV audience AND LEAGUE COMMISIONER DON GARBER should, frankly prompt a urine test.
One would think an ejection like that, so late in the game and down a goal, would have taken the fight out of the Lions, but it is to their credit it that it did not. Indeed, in the final ten minutes NYCFC looked like the shorthanded side. Orlando pressed the attack, chased down every ball, forced every turnover and threatened to score again and again.
Indeed, it was that aggressiveness that forced Jeb Brovsky to commit the foul that led to the direct kick that led to Orlando’s goal.
It was, of course, devastating for NYCFC fans. As one season ticket holder said “I feel like this is Portugal all over again. Coming in, I would have been happy with a draw. But to have a win slip through our fingers at the last minute like that is brutal.”
And to be sure, NYCFC was probably two minutes away from a huge win. To lose three points in stoppage time, and to endure the euphoria of the Citrus Bowl’s 62,000 faithful is the kind of trial by fire that can rattle young teams.
But that’s one of the reasons why it was not a disaster. For what better way for a team to toughen and come together, than to suffer a let-down like that in front of a hostile crowd – and still walk away with a point? Welcome to MLS, boys. Get used to it or get another job.
And second, let’s be fair – Orlando’s goal was a deflection off of the wall, and not a deflection caused by players shirking and shrinking. Quite the opposite; Brovsky was extending himself, trying to make himself as large as possible to fill the space and help out his wounded goalie. And finally, it came off the foot of Kaka. Kaka. It’s not like NYCFC gave up a goal because of poor marking or foolish play. The ball took a lucky bounce. It happens. Move on.
And thus NYCFC emerge with a draw, and begin the season in third place, alphabetically above the Red Bulls and the Lions. Next week, they welcome defending Eastern Conference champs New England Revolution to Yankee Stadium, a team coming off an embarrassing beat down in the Emerald City. A team likely to be highly determined not to begin the season 0-2. It should be another good test.
