New York City Fc surprisingly lost at home to Portland Timbers last weekend. The visitors had to depend on Diego Valeri's 44th-minute strike to edge past resilient New York City FC 1-0. Patrick Vieira's men couldn't utilize their open chances in front of goal. Certainly, it was a disappointing outcome for NYCFC as they lost in front of their 23,651 home crowd at the Yankee Stadium. For Caleb Porter's men, it was an unexpected victory that vaulted them to the summit of the Western standings. With this loss, NYCFC remains second in the Eastern Conference with fifty points.
Here's a quick summary of the match.
New York City FC outlook
Starting XI and individual performance points: Goalkeeper - Sean Johnson (8.05). Defenders - RJ Allen (six points), Frederic Brillant (seven points), Alexander Callens (six points), Ben Sweat (6.50). Midfielder - Andrea Pirlo (5.62), Thomas McNamara (6.31), Khiry Shelton (6.40), Maximiliano Morález (6.98), Rodney Wallace (six points). Forward - Jack Harrison (7.25). Used substitutes - John Stertzer (5.90), Jonathan Lewis (six points), Sean Okoli (six points).
Team's strength and weakness: NYCFC were fantastic at creating goal bound opportunities from set pieces but lacked tactical ability to finish up those chances. They were often caught offside and made a lot of individual stumbles
Style of play: Patrick Vieira's men apparently favored long shots, through balls and crossing long balls.
NYCFC often attacked down the left side.
Portland Timbers outlook
Starting XI and individual performance points: Goalkeeper - Jeff Attinella (seven points). Defenders - Zarek Valentin (6.80), Larrys Mabiala (7.49), Roy Miller (7.80), Vytautas Andriuskevicius (6.59). Midfielder - Diego Chara (7.19), David Guzmán (7.10), Sebastián Blanco (7.59), Diego Valeri (7.81), Darlington Nagbe (seven points).
Forward - Darren Mattocks (seven points). Used substitutes - Lawrence Olum (six points), Jeremy Ebobisse (6.20), Jack Barmby (six points).
Team's strength and weakness: Portland Timbers were strong at setting up goal scoring chances through individual efforts, set pieces and from the both flanks. Caleb Porter's men held a large quantity of possession in the match but were regularly caught offside.
However, they were aggressive in tackling and gave away several free kicks around their half
Style of play: the Timbers largely favored through balls and launched attacks from the right flank. They had high shot frequency when in possession.
Upcoming fixtures
New York City FC will travel to Colorado to face Colorado Rapids on Sunday 17 September, while Portland Timbers hits the road once again to slog it out with Real Salt Lake the same day.
Man of the match
NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson was the man of the match. Despite their narrow loss to Portland Timbers, Johnson made several key saves that prevented the visitors from humiliating them further at home. He was outstanding manning the post for NYCFC.
