May 8, 2021 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – New York City FC News Release
Orlando City SC 1 – 1 New York City FC
Saturday, May 8, 2021
2021 MLS Regular Season – Game 4
Exploria Stadium – Orlando, FL
LINEUPS
Orlando City SC: Pedro Gallese; Ruan (46′ Joao Moutinho), Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith, Antonio Carlos; Sebastian Mendez, Junior Urso, Mauricio Pereyra (81′ Andres Perea); Nani, Tesho Akindele (72′ Benji Michel), Chris Mueller (80′ Silvester van der Water)
SUBS UNUSED: Brandon Austin, Alexander Alvarado, Rio Hope-Gund, Joey DeZart, Matheus Aias
New York City FC: Sean Johnson; Anton Tinnerholm (74′ Sebastien Ibeagha), Maxime Chanot, Alex Callens, James Sands, Gudmundur Thorarinsson (65′ Malte Amundsen); Nicolas Acevedo, Keaton Parks (90′ Tony Rocha); Andres Jasson (65′ Ismael Tajouri-Shradi), Jesus Medina; Taty Castellanos
SUBS UNUSED: Luis Barraza, Chris Gloster, Tayvon Gray, Vuk Latinovich, Justin Haak
SCORING SUMMARY
52′ – ORL – Nani (Assisted by: Mauricio Pereyra)
77′ – NYC – Valentin Castellanos (Penalty)
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
34′ – ORL – Kyle Smith – Yellow Card
64′ – NYC – James Sands – Yellow Card
QUOTES
New York City FC Head Coach Ronny Deila:
On the result…
“It says so much about the team. We were missing [some veteran players (Maxi Moralez/Alfredo Morales)] that can make a difference. The boys go on and show themselves in that way, it just shows we’re coming [close to] what we’re talking about before the season-the togetherness, to be a team. Everyone is performing. Everyone is doing their job. They kept discipline. There was leadership on the pitch today. We go 1-0 down after a fantastic finish for Nani-they didn’t have any chances before that. When you shoot like that, it’s okay…you just have to accept it. We just kept on going and getting back in the game. We had Isi coming on, Malte, Seb, Tony…all of them did a fantastic job. That is what we talk about with togetherness and team spirit. We deserved to win today. We had four big chances, they had one. It wasn’t a chance almost-just a fantastic finish. If Jesus put that last chance in the goal, it wouldn’t have felt like robbery. I would feel like we were the closest to winning it. Overall, very pleased with the performance and proud of the boys.”
New York City FC Midfielder James Sands:
On the draw tonight and what it says about the team…
“It wasn’t the prettiest game from us. I think we’ve played much better soccer, in the end you can’t win them all pretty. I think to come down to this stadium against a really good Orlando side-in the heat, we’re not used to that either-to come away with a point, and probably the better chances, it’s a huge statement about the will of this team. It’s going to be helpful come playoffs because I think it’s something we’ve lacked in the past years. This team is different and we can go a long way.”
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