{"id":39381,"date":"2021-12-01T17:58:43","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T22:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=39381"},"modified":"2021-12-01T18:00:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T23:00:56","slug":"nycfc-upsets-new-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2021\/12\/01\/nycfc-upsets-new-england\/","title":{"rendered":"NYCFC upset New England and advances to Eastern Conference Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>FOXBOROUGH, Mass. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; On Tuesday night, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2021\/11\/27\/nycfc-stands-revs-conference-semifinal\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the Supporters\u2019 Shield winning New England Revolution hosted NYCFC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs.<\/a> With full-time concluding drawn at 1-1, the whirlwind that was extra-time held an additional goal for each side and a red card for NYCFC\u2019s Valent\u00edn \u201cTaty\u201d Castellanos, sending the game to penalty kicks knotted up at 2-2. However, it would be New York City that emerged victorious from the shootout. They went perfect from the spot with Sean Johnson making a clutch save on New England\u2019s second penalty to secure a spot in the Eastern Conference finals.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>NYCFC upsets New England and advances<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>First half:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scoring started quickly and early with some solid passing from NYCFC which saw Santiago Rodr\u00edguez switch the field with a ball to Jes\u00fas Medina who was able to find Tayvon Gray on the overlapping run. Gray\u2019s ability to play a one-time pass into the box for Rodr\u00edguez making a run towards the penalty spot who slots it past MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Matt Turner. This goal put NYCFC up 1-0 in just the third minute.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/23SRodriguez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@23SRodriguez<\/a> with the \ud83d\udd25 start\u203c\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForTheCity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForTheCity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7Atdsgd5nZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7Atdsgd5nZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/newyorkcityfc\/status\/1465847072343609357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New England wouldn&#8217;t be without an answer, however, as NYCFC committed a foul on the left side of Johnson\u2019s box giving Captain Carles Gil an opportunity over a free kick in the ninth minute. A well-played ball into the center of the box from Gil found the head of Adam Buksa for his seventeenth goal of the season, tying the game 1-1.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WIDE AWAKE NOW!!! Adam Buksa, a monster in the air. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TA4iUP0sUK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/TA4iUP0sUK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New England Revolution (@NERevolution) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NERevolution\/status\/1465847355824037890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The goal was followed by a tough foul from Taty Castellanos on Andrew Farrell in the 18-minute which saw him awarded the first of a few yellow cards from this matchup.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next big opportunity came in the 21-minute when NYCFC player Maxi Moralez hit a perfectly placed free-kick just outside the six-yard box which found Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s head. Rodr\u00edguez was able to knock it down to the foot of Medina for what seemed a wide-open tap for goal but was just tipped by a mob of New England players to put Medina off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first half would be capped off with a Matt Polster yellow card in the 27-minute, with both teams kept fairly quiet offensively for the remainder of the half despite a few chances on the ball for each side.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Second half:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was New England that would come out stronger to start the second half. The Revolution creating the first real opportunity in the 57-minute. There was some quick one-touch passing in the midfield that found Tajon Buchanan breaking down the wing for a layoff to Gustavo Bou. Bou played a ball into the back post for a running Tommy McNamara who was able to get ahead to it but flew the ball just high of the crossbar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The back-and-forth continued as NYCFC found themselves on the attack again. For example, in the 64-minute when Medina found Rodr\u00edguez on the wing in some traffic. Breaking around Polster, Rodr\u00edguez was able to find some space and play an excellent ball to Moralez wide open in the box for a great chance which just caught the post to keep the score tied.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This opportunity was followed up by some great goalkeeping on both sides which started in the 65-minute as Gray dribbled a pass across the box and found Rodr\u00edguez for a quick shot, quelled by Turner on a reaction save to keep the Revolution even.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not to be outdone, Johnson found himself making a solid block to keep the scoreline tied as New England\u2019s DeJuan Jones played a ball across the box for Bou. Bou manage a shot on goal from just inside the box. This forces Johnson to dive left and make the outstretched save in the 68-minute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From here, both teams would see the game to a 1-1 draw taking this semifinal into extra time. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Extra Time:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While NYCFC would start with the ball, New England created the first opportunity to break the deadlock as Gil played in yet again another great ball which a covered Buksa headed just wide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the first half of extra time concluded, NYCFC would open the second half in the 109-minute with Moralez on the right-wing who dropped the ball inside for substitute Gudmundur Th\u00f3rarinsson. The Icelander swings a ball in at the back post where Castellanos is able to make a move on Jones and slam the header in to put New York City up 2-1.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">THE LATE TATYGOL \ud83e\udd81 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tatycaste11anos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@tatycaste11anos<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mkGa6u1zuz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/mkGa6u1zuz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/newyorkcityfc\/status\/1465880060095832069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Castellanos&#8217; goal would come at a cost though as the 23-year-old committed a foul in the 113-minute which saw him pick up his second yellow card of the match and a subsequent red sending NYCFC to 10 men and suspending him for the next match. This seemed to breathe some life into New England as Bruce Arena opted for two 114-minute attacking substitutes to try and get the game back to even.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And this eventually paid off with NYCFC struggling under the pressure especially with their defender Gray cramping and finding it difficult to cover space on the right side. Gil at the top-right of the box played a short ball to Rev&#8217;s substitute Emmanuel Boateng on the wing, who whipped it to the far side for a breaking Buchanan touching it beyond Sean Johnson for a 2-2 tie in the 118-minute.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">THEREEEE HE GOESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! Massive! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IVuJZvHin8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/IVuJZvHin8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New England Revolution (@NERevolution) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NERevolution\/status\/1465881554555744264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following a crazy period of extra time, we\u2019d head to a shoutout and the second in the Eastern Conference semifinals play after Philadelphia\u2019s victory over Nashville.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Johnson\u2019s clutch save sends NYCFC to Conference Finals<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CALLENS SCORES! WE&#39;RE MOVING ON!!!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd34: \u2705\u274c\u2705\u2705<br \/>\ud83d\uddfd: \u2705\u2705\u2705\u2705\u2705<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/newyorkcityfc\/status\/1465885853272662018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both hitting their first penalty kicks, NYCFC\u2019s Alfredo Morales and New England\u2019s Gil tied things at 1-1. This was before Thiago Andrade made it 2-1 for New York City. After scoring the opening Revolution goal it was Buksa who was foiled as Johnson dove firmly to his right to clamp the shot and make a save keeping it 2-1 NYCFC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NYCFC would go perfect from the spot scoring from all five of their penalty attempts with New England missing just the one which was enough to put NYCFC through. It was Alexander Callens to hit the game-winner and send his club into the Eastern Conference Finals.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">THAT WINNING PENALTY \ud83d\ude80\u2728 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForTheCity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForTheCity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7NDpggp6Xw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7NDpggp6Xw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/newyorkcityfc\/status\/1465891919402262529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With NYCFC advancing, they will be without Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos when they take on Philadelphia Union next Sunday. This is because he will be suspended for the next match following his red card against New England.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"UQC9QIkmRSF6xV09WDNG4Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/1236925680\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'UQC9QIkmRSF6xV09WDNG4Q',sig:'Ld19civRXaxX4A2MuuefU0ypgWiS11FOZXtiXygN8Ow=',w:'594px',h:'398px',items:'1236925680',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FOXBOROUGH, Mass. &#8211; On Tuesday night, the Supporters\u2019 Shield winning New England Revolution hosted NYCFC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs. With full-time concluding drawn at 1-1, the whirlwind that was extra-time held an additional goal for each side and a red card for NYCFC\u2019s Valent\u00edn \u201cTaty\u201d Castellanos, sending the game [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3973,"featured_media":39391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[119,11,4],"tags":[3696,2895,4694,2040,471,4696,4451,934,4281],"class_list":["post-39381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mls","category-revolution","category-nycfc","tag-adam-buksa","tag-carles-gil","tag-eastern-conference-semifinals","tag-matt-turner","tag-mls-cup-playoffs","tag-penalty-shootout","tag-santiago-rodriguez","tag-sean-johnson","tag-taty-castellanos"],"modified_by":"Raheem Bashir, Site Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3973"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}