NEW YORK – It was seven goals conceded in their fourth straight loss to the New York Red Bulls, but New York City FC captain David Villa preferred to focus on another number following Saturday’s stunning and historic 7-0 New York derby loss at Yankee Stadium.
“It was a disaster day for us, all bad,” Villa said. “The best thing about today thinking about this is we only lost three points.”
And for Villa, that’s where his analysis of this game ends.
“We can spend three days analyzing this game, but it’s all bad,” Villa said. “There’s nothing good. In my opinion it’s better to forget this game.”
While one of the most lopsided losses in MLS history certainly stings, it also ended a club-best five-match unbeaten streak that catapulted NYCFC to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
“We are second in the table,” Villa said. “I know this is a bad day, but this is soccer. You have bad days, but it’s only one day. Four hours before we were the best performers in the MLS. We played good the last five games, we are a disaster today and we’ll try in the week to train and give the people the same as the last five games.”
Added fullback RJ Allen: “It’s one match at the end of the day. One match isn’t going to dictate our season. Unfortunately it was against New York, but we’ll learn from it. It’s one match. It’s a long, long season. It’s one of 34 games.”
While a 7-0 final result would suggest that most things didn't work well on the afternoon for NYCFC, they were particularly exposed defending set pieces and they were second to most balls on the day.
“I think on this level, especially in derby games, if you don’t match the desire and competitiveness of the opposition, you have what happened today,” said NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira. “Conceding four goals on set pieces was unacceptable.”
Vieira cited a similar experience he had as a player, when he finished on the wrong side of a 6-1 rout to Manchester United when he defended Arsenal's colors.
“It’s never easy, but I think it will be a good test for us to see how strong we are and how strong our team spirit is,” Vieira said. “We have to bounce back from the game.”
