“We’re conscious of where we are in the table and that we have the opportunity to go up to first, especially that we have all these games in hand,” Medina said through a translator. “But we’re also taking it day by day and have Toronto coming up. We’ll take it from there.”
“It’s not easy having games in hand, knowing you have to win to go on top,” Ring said. “I think it’s easier to set the pace and let others try to stay behind you. We’re just going game-by-game and now we play on Wednesday again. That’s all we focus on. It’s nice to be top of the table, but if we’re not there at the end of the regular season, it doesn’t mean anything now.”
“Maybe we are in the first position, but it’s not important at the moment,” Torrent said. “It’s important against Philadelphia if we are able to finish in the first position, but I am happy because we have six games to finish the regular season and we will try to finish in the first position.”
As reported by MLS Soccer and NYCFC.com, this is the kind of mentality that this New York City FC team is working with – and we absolutely love it.
Signed, sealed, delivered
For a few years now they’ve been viewed as a franchise that hasn’t quite lived up to the hype, but it certainly feels like all of that is about to change as we look ahead to their future.
There are no guarantees one way or another as to whether or not they will be able to cause a stir in the MLS Cup playoffs, but all of a sudden, they’re being discussed as one of the leading contenders to win the whole thing for the Eastern Conference.
That kind of gives you an insight as to just how unpredictable this conference is and will continue to be. Nobody really has any kind of constructive idea as to which direction it’s going to go in, and that benefits teams like NYCFC.
They’re not going to be the nailed on favourites because things are moving a little bit quicker over in the West, but they’ve definitely got a chance – and they improved their chances even further by defeating New England.
A close call
Caicedo gave the visitors an early lead but with a ninth minute red card bringing the Revolution down to ten men (which is hardly surprising in Major League Soccer), the momentum swung back in the favour of the hosts.
It took them a while to really get into a rhythm but eventually, they were able to equalise in the 70th minute.
Jesus Medina was the man who got the goal and then deep into injury time, a 96th minute penalty from Medina confirmed that New York City FC has the kind of steely determination necessary to go far in these playoffs.
There’s still a long way to go, but a lot of neutrals are excited about the kind of risk they could pose some of the bigger teams from the West if they’re playing at the top of their game.