You could call it opportunistic, you could call it morally nihilist, or you could call it a win, because a win is a win.
One thing you certainly could not call NYCFC’s win over Toronto FC on Saturday at BMO Field is pretty. I’ll use ‘opportunistic’ as the word to describe New York City FC’s attitude against Toronto because it’s the most diplomatic to both parties, while also being fairly descriptive of how the match panned out.
NYCFC Earn a Perfectly Ugly Win in Toronto
If you’re interested in more buzzwords that would come up in a discussion of how NYCFC approached the match, there’s ‘bunker,’ ‘hack,’ ‘hoof,’ and ‘counter.’ NYCFC bunkered in their own third and came up with some important and organized defending, hacked Giovinco and deprived him of space and service, hoofed clearances when they needed to reorganize defensively, and countered quickly when they could in order to move the ball up the field.
Ultimately though, NYCFC came back from Canada with three more points and are now riding a three-match MLS winning streak into a highly anticipated and likely full-house match-up against the New York Red Bulls.
The most notable difference in NYCFC’s play on Saturday was their departure from a possession-oriented style in favor of defending deep with two banks of four, and then doing whatever they could to catch Toronto on the counter. Throughout the season, NYCFC has averaged 53% possession per game. On Saturday against Toronto, they only had 42.3%.
That’s not an accident, and just because New York City were out-possessed doesn’t necessarily mean they were outplayed. Toronto’s game plan was relatively simple going into the match: get the ball to Sebastian Giovinco and let him work his magic. Over the past few matches for Toronto, that worked like a charm. On Saturday, they were at home against a team coming off of a rough midweek loss. Why not play the same way?
Because Jason Kreis knows how to manage a team, that’s why.
By defending deep in a flat 4-4-2 and packing the middle of their defensive third, NYCFC forced Toronto to do something they didn’t want to do: play the ball wide and hit crosses. Toronto’s formation, a skinny diamond midfield with Michael Bradley as the No. 10 and Giovinco as one of the two forwards, was ill-suited to play this way, and it showed.
*Side note:these are the exact same problems the USMNT might face in the Gold Cup when they go up against lesser CONCACAF foes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!*
Toronto put in 38 total crosses, including corners. Of those, 29 were unsuccessful.
It’s not their game, but they were forced into playing that way because NYCFC were so effective in choking the middle of the field on defense. If you’re wondering just how much bunkering NYCFC did and just how effective it was, NYCFC notched 44 clearances while only allowing 4 shots on goal.
However, no matter how organized and effective a team’s defensive shape is, there is always the danger of Giovinco producing a moment of brilliance and creating a goal out of thin air. If he is allowed to have time and space, Giovinco is easily one of the five most lethal players in the league. Jason Kreis knows this and so do his players. The obvious solution then, is to not allow him to have time and space on the ball. Step one is to force him out wide where he is less comfortable, and step two is to make sure that-when he does get the ball- he isn’t given time to pick out a pass or space to slice apart the defense on the dribble.
NYCFC’s shape took care of step one, and MLS refereeing took care of step two. New York City banked on the well-documented reluctance of MLS officials to call fouls and dole out yellows (especially second yellows) and hacked the heck out of Giovinco. Surprise, it worked! Not only did it keep him from getting too dangerous in the attacking third, but it also frustrated him and the rest of his Toronto FC teammates. Ethically sound or not, NYCFC were able to get into Toronto’s heads. They lured Toronto into some retaliation fouls, one of which Giovinco was given a yellow card for. Toronto’s frustration continued to manifest itself as the game went on and they were forced into hoofing those aimless crosses while Michael Bradley became more and more invisible.
Outside New York City FC’s effectiveness in executing their game plan, Toronto’s tendency to beat themselves was the most important ingredient in the final result of this match.
For a team that boasts Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore, and Michael Bradley to own 57.7% of the possession in a match and only manage four shots on target is unacceptable. In addition to their offensive impotence, Toronto’s pesky problem of their defense letting them down at the worst possible times reared its ugly head again.
New York City FC’s second goal was a prime example of that. Eriq Zavaleta’s horrible giveaway to Mix Diskerud right above the box started everything off. Then Tommy McNamara slipped by Ashtone Morgan and squared the ball to a completely unmarked (thanks to Benoit Cheyrou falling asleep) Mehdi Ballouchy, and then Justin Morrow just lost the battle with David Villa, who slotted it home.
It never should have happened, but it did because Toronto FC did a Toronto FC.
For NYCFC, the most important takeaway from this match is that they proved they can win in different ways. They don’t always have to be determined to break a team down with quick passing and possession dominance. When they’re able to do that it’s great, and having the ability to play that way is certainly an important tool in their arsenal.
But sometimes you’re not able to play that way, and when you’re coming off a hard fought, 120-minutes-plus-penalty-kicks midweek loss, you have to saddle up, hit the road, and grind out results. NYCFC showed they could do that against one of the league’s most dangerous attacking teams, and that’s a positive no matter how you slice it.
New York City needed to pick up three more points and keep their momentum up going into a very important Hudson River Derby, and they did just that. It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day a win is a win.
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