HARRISON, N.J. – Whether tactically or mentally, New York City FC simply did not have the answers for the relentless pressing and determination of the New York Red Bulls.
With on-field temperatures approaching 110 degrees, the younger legs of the Red Bulls flummoxed New York City FC, forcing them into mistakes and silly fouls in a 4-1 romp at Red Bull Arena.
"We wanted to go after them. We didn't want to sit back. We wanted to tempt them to play through us," Jesse Marsch said after the match. "They've shown that that's what they're sticking to, and we were going to make sure that in all ways, that they were going to be on top of the game. And we knew that they like to pass in their own end and we like to pass in our opponent's end. So that meant that a lot of the game was going to be played in that end of the field.
"But the key was, when there were breakdowns, not to let ourselves be exposed behind us," he continued. "And, again, I think on the day we did a really good job with that."
It didn't take long for the match to get chippy. Just two minutes in, Dax McCarty and Frank Lampard were already shoving at each other over an aggressive tackle. Moments later, a fiery Patrick Vieira tried to rally his troops during a hydration break, but entered the field of play, earning him a sending-off. As he left, he and Marsch had words.
"The conversation with Jesse was to stop crying," said NYCFC's head coach. "I think his team was playing well, but he was quite really frustrated and I feel sorry for him."
Allowing another goal just prior to the half, Tommy McNamara gave City a glimmer of hope on a moment of brilliance. That, however, wasn't enough for a reeling NYCFC. At the end of 90 minutes, the Red Bulls won the possession battle with a whopping 60 percent, held a solid 84 percent pass completion rate on the night and limited NYCFC to a single shot on target (full match stats here).
Despite that domination, Vieira saw another culprit for his side's loss: the subconscious influence of Marsch's comments about the referees in the lead up to the match, for which Marsch was fined by MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
"I think, when you put in a question mark on the referee's credibility before it begins, that can have an impact, and I think you will agree it had an impact on the referee's performance today," Vieira said. "And I feel sorry because we came here to play a good game and to play a derby game ... [in] derby games sometimes, yes, the tackle is late, but I don't think the referee -- the referee, I believe, got influenced by [Marsch's] comment during the week."
