Facts After the Match: NYCvCLB

OH, am I going to have SOOOOO much fun with this one! It may not be necessary to mention all of the obvious facts, but just so that there's one place we can have the all, let's get to it!

Here are the facts after the regular season finale at home against Columbus.

1. First, to the table. NYCFC finish this year's campaign with a total of 54 league points, 17 more than last year.

Points per game increased a half point (1.09 to 1.59), number of wins up by 50% (10 to 15), number of losses down by about 41% (17 to 10), number of home wins up from 6 to 8, number of home losses down from 7 to 3, number of away wins up from 4 to 7, number of away losses down from 10 to 7, number of goals scored up by 26.5% (49 to 62, highest in the league), number of goals against decrease by 1 (58 to 57, three teams have conceded more), and goal differential increased by 14 (-9 to 5). All of this adds up to a rise of 6 places, from 8th to 2nd in the conference, and a rise of 13 places from 17th to 4th in the league. What an improvement!

2. whoscored.com claims Villa as the Man of the Match, with an 8.9 rating, Harrison and Matarrita both have 8.5s, and Johansen scored an 8.0 in his first MLS match (oh, yeah, he actually played a league match!).

And Johansen came to play too! He made his name known from the start.

The team looked to have played in a 5-2-3 formation, adjusting the 4-3-3 by dropping Iraola back further into the defensive line, and allowed Matarrita and Allen to move freely along the wings worry-free, as the defense now had the fourth body in case a wing back could not retreat in time. This made sense to me, and I think it worked pretty well.

3. David Villa, this guy, scored his 23rd goal of the season right at the blow of the final whistle. That makes it the latest goal scored in a match for NYCFC, of course.

Villa finishes the regular season with four assists also to his name. Yes, he didn't get the Golden Boot, but he said twice before the game, and once after that he doesn't really care. He told both Grant Wahl on his Planet Fútbol podcast, and reporters during training this week.

Then after the game, he found out that Wright-Phillips got the award and Villa publicly congratulated him.

And honestly, if Villa doesn't care, then I don't care.

David Villa's goal is up for Goal of the Week, and at the time of posting, has already cleared round one by 78-22.

4. The other goals came from Mendoza, Harrison, and Shelton. Steven Mendoza scored the first goal for NYC right before halftime. He last scored in the 4-1 win over Chicago, exactly one month ago, on the 23rd of September. It was assisted by David Villa, who watched Mendoza score while lying on the ground. He finishes the regular season with five goals.

Jack Harrison scored City's second, assisted by Frank Lampard (and I believe Villa get the secondary, but it wasn't reported that he did). It is Harrison's first time on the score card since registering two assists in the 2-2 draw against FC Dallas (who, by the way, won the Shield, congrats to them) on the 17th of September. It's his fourth goal for the season. The last time he scored was on the 17th of July, in the 1-3 win at Montreal (and that goal won Goal of the Week, too!).

Harrison then assists Khiry Shelton's fourth goal to finish the season to finish with four goals and seven assists. Shelton's previous score card appearance was a "hat trick" of assists in the 4-1 victory of Chicago. And Shelton's previous goal came in the 2-2 draw against Dallas. Shelton finishes with four goals and nine assists.

In total there were five goals scored, four for City.

5. NYCFC get their first three points against Columbus after four winless fixtures. The record now stands at 1W-2D-2L.

6. Frank Lampard doesn't let injury hold him back apparently. He registered two assists in this game to finish the regular season with twelve goals and three assists.

7. This is the fourth game NYCFC has scored at least four goals. And yes, we won all four. What's more interesting is the record when NYCFC scores at least three goals: 8W-1D-0L.

Games with at least three NYCFC goals

@ Chicago, 6th of March

W, 3-4

vs. Vancouver, 30th of April

W, 3-2

vs. Philadelphia, 18th of June

W, 3-2

@ Montreal, 17th of July

W, 1-3

vs. Colorado, 30th of July

W, 5-1

@ Columbus, 13th of August

D, 3-3

vs. DC, 1st of September

W, 3-2

vs. Chicago, 23rd of September

W, 4-1

vs. Columbus, 23rd of October

W, 4-1


8. NYCFC finishes the regular season with an eight-game undefeated streak at home. And if I'm not mistaken, NYCFC has Yankee Stadium for the rest of the year. I tell you one thing: that pitch looked amazing today.

We've witnessed a transformation, fam. The difference between last year and this year is night and day. And there's nowhere else to go from here but up.


That's all I have for now. Enjoy these highlights. Enjoy the moment. Come next week, it's playoff time!

WE FIGHT TO THE END! WE FIGHT TO THE EEEEEEEEND!

WE'RE NEW YORK CITY! WE FIGHT TO THE END!