MLS Cup Playoffs - October 28 - Charlotte (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
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Alex Da Silva
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0 yellows for Charlotte is crazy this ref was pissing me off, Westwood and toklamati should have yellows for sure
Harvard man yells at Princeton man.
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This was right after Charlotte got a free header on goal in the 88’. Freese was not happy that O’Toole hadn’t marked the shooter.
NGL boys. I never watch the post game wrap up program on Apple, but I kept it on tonight and I have to admit Dax McCarty is pretty damn good. He's making insightful comments without any of the wise guy snark that I can't stand. Hell, I'll even go as far as saying BWP is also doing an excellent job on the show. I guess the absence of that douchebag Kljestan raises everybody's game.
Yeah Dax and BWP are objective and insightful
I think there is a good chance that was all an act to kill time, and they both knew it.
Revfugee
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Watched on delay. WTH with this thread? No chat tonight? Funny to read it after the fact. To read along you would have thought we were under siege all night but really this one wasn’t close.
We gave Charlotte almost no good looks tonight and the only really butt clenching moment was when Gray gave that foul away on the 18. If we give that to Miami it’s in the back of the net.
Generally a very good showing. Pascal had the side well drilled and we mostly avoided stupid mistakes.
And that Alonso goal may be top 10 alltime for the club. Absolute magic. Highlight reel stuff for Alonso. I’m really not looking forward to losing him and Justin, both of which seem inevitable.
The cards were ridiculously off balance tonight but otherwise I thought the ref was fine. Def let us off the hook a couple of times early and seemed like he was compensating later on.
Still need more firepower but this was a good professional win and I can’t wait for Saturday. I have five out of town guests coming so I want the boys to show well.
We gave Charlotte almost no good looks tonight and the only really butt clenching moment was when Gray gave that foul away on the 18. If we give that to Miami it’s in the back of the net.
Generally a very good showing. Pascal had the side well drilled and we mostly avoided stupid mistakes.
And that Alonso goal may be top 10 alltime for the club. Absolute magic. Highlight reel stuff for Alonso. I’m really not looking forward to losing him and Justin, both of which seem inevitable.
The cards were ridiculously off balance tonight but otherwise I thought the ref was fine. Def let us off the hook a couple of times early and seemed like he was compensating later on.
Still need more firepower but this was a good professional win and I can’t wait for Saturday. I have five out of town guests coming so I want the boys to show well.
On the goal, watch how Maxi darts across Martinez’s run to distract Ream. It’s a big reason Martinez was able to break free in the box.
I think we reacted that way because at 1-0 it takes just one fluke or breakdown. In the second half Charlotte had 60% possession, more shots, more SoT, 2x the corners, 5x as many shots inside the box and 14 touches in our box to 4 for NYC in theirs. You're absolutely correct that none of this generated even one solid chance for Charlotte but goals come out of nowhere all the time. Also in my experience online fans are generally at their most psychotic during game threads. I usually avoid them, or drop in to say something without reading anything because everyone is a rabid dog until the game ends.
Beating my own dead hobbyhorse but I can't resist saying that if this were a 2 game series the delicious tension of the last 30 minutes is way less. Of course you don't want to concede either way but the consequences of doing so would have been far lower. In this format we get a shootout and even with Freese, that's frightening and there's a risk you waste all the effort of this game. In the traditional format a 1-1 draw means "OK, let's just go win at home. NBD."
I thought our yellows were fair. Charlotte could have had 2, maybe 3 more but each of ours made sense as either persistent, or tactical, and Haak had a clear intentional handball. The ref was fine to us overall. Charlotte players went down in the pen area more than once after actual contact and the ref let it go. It was correct, but it could have gone otherwise.
After the angry scuffle right around 90' the post game handshakes were not only uneventful but surprising. Martins greeted Westwood like they used to be college roommates. During the scuffle Gray amused me. He mostly stayed back on the fringe of the clump - which is smart - but he was yapping the whole time.
Nice tip. He almost set a pick.
All in all probably the most fun I've had watching a NYCFC game in a few years.
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I thought we looked really good in the first half, definitely played aggressively and looked like the better team. Martinez's goal was probably one of my favorite in recent years. Second half felt like the script was flipped. We had so much trouble even maintaining possession for more than 30 seconds. I'm not sure if there was a tactical decision to bunker down for 45 minutes, but it sure felt that way. I thought that we were really close to giving up a goal any time after the 55th minute, and I thought it would've been a better idea to bring in some fresh legs sooner. Obviously I'm happy with the result, but I'd like to see them stay on the attack even if they're up a goal on Saturday going into the second half.
I actually really enjoyed reading through this thread after the fact. Might be worth considering whether to do it this way for other games.
ZYanksRule
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I don't think the second half was a tactical switch, it was just the game state. The home team is losing a playoff game, of course they're going to push. The fact they had almost no solid chances is a major credit to our team.
Yellow cards also a key factor. At one point O Neil and 3/4 of the backline were on yellows which limits aggressive play.
