New York City FC bagged two first-half goals and cruised to their first road win of the season, a 2-0 triumph over D.C. United Wednesday night at Audi Field.
Brad Smith struck the post just two minutes into the match, but NYCFC found the back of the net first. Chris Gloster crossed to Alexander Callens near post following a corner kick and the center back headed in the opening goal in the 6th minute.
NYCFC were awarded a penalty kick just before halftime when Video Review confirmed a Brendan Hines-Ike handball in the box. Taty Castellanos stepped up to the spot and put his Panenka PK past Rafael Romo to double the Cityzens' lead in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time.
D.C. United threatened to cut their deficit in half in the 76th minute when Steve Birnbaum latched onto a Julian Gressel corner kick at the back post. But Sean Johnson swatted away the deflected attempt with his right hand, the NYCFC goalkeeper's lone save of the game.
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: NYCFC found two goals on set pieces when they needed them to bag their first road win. Ronny Deila’s squad has now won five of their last six games. D.C. tried to rotate their squad, leaving in-form striker Taxiarchis Fountas on the bench to start the game. His halftime substitution couldn’t help fix what had already been done with D.C. stretching a winless streak to three games in all competitions.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Taty pulled a Panenka. At the brink of halftime, the reigning Golden Boot presented by Audi winner stepped up to the spot and added insult to injury for a horribly-timed penalty conceded by D.C. United. It was his seventh goal of the season, two off the pace set by FC Dallas' Jesus Ferreira.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Keaton Parks is a solid presence in the middle of the park for NYCFC and the tall central midfielder proved it once again. Parks had the best offensive chances from the run of play for the Cityzens and was unlucky not to find the back of the net.
Next Up
- DC: Saturday, May 21 vs. Toronto FC | 4:00 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US; TSN in Canada)
- NYC: Sunday, May 22 vs. Chicago Fire FC | 5:00 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+)
