NYCFC expects highly-motivated Philadelphia Union in conference final rematch
New York City FC head coach Nick Cushing, right, reacts to fans after his team defeated Inter Miami in an MLS soccer playoff match Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
New York City FC interim coach Nick Cushing doesn’t quite get the rhetoric out of Philadelphia ahead of Sunday’s MLS Eastern Conference final.
The Union were missing several key players out with COVID-19 when NYCFC visited Subaru Park last year and captured the conference crown, and Philadelphia coach Jim Curtin said this week he’ll “never move on” from that situation.
“I don’t think we did anything other than win a football game,” Cushing said after training Friday. “It's a game of football and it's going to be a difficult game of football, ultimately we can build narrative around it.”
Cushing was an assistant to former coach Ronny Deila this time a year ago when NYCFC advanced past the Union on a late goal en route to its first MLS Cup. While he might not fully understand his opponent’s views, he knows what they mean for Sunday’s rematch: a highly-motivated Philadelphia side ready to correct a perceived wrong.
“They’ve been the best team this year in the conference, if not across two conferences,” Cushing said. “They’ll feel that they missed an opportunity to get to MLS Cup last year and losing in front of their home fans. This year, they’ll want to put that right.”
That’s been a year-long quest for the Union. The No. 1 seed has not lost at Subaru Park since that defeat to City, finishing the regular season 12-0-5 (41 points) at home.
NYCFC lost both of its meetings with Philly this year, including a 2-1 road defeat in June that included 33 combined fouls and five yellow cards, plus a red card to a Philadelphia trainer given during an on-field incident. Cushing believes revisiting that June defeat will serve City better than reminiscing about last year’s final.
“We weren’t good enough in the first half and we addressed that at halftime and we came out better,” Cushing said. “We went in 1-0 down and we managed to get back into the game, but gave away a late goal.”
The results this year may have been rough, but after last year’s run, it will take more to intimidate this City side.
“We’ve been looking at film this week and we’re just studying their formation and what certain players like to do, like we do with any other team in the league,” said midfielder Keaton Parks. “It’s two good football teams. Obviously, Philly had a great run at home this year, so we’re looking to play a good game and compete and hopefully get the win."
NOTES: Tayvon Gray, who missed last week’s conference semifinal win over CF Montreal, participated in the portion of Friday’s training open to media. So did Maxi Moralez, who was removed from the match at halftime. Centerback Maxime Chanot worked on his own after leaving the Montreal match in the 14th minute with a leg injury. Talles Magno and Alfredo Morales were not seen during the 15-minute session. All five officially are listed as questionable.
Ryan Gerbosi is an internet news manager for sports at Newsday.com. He also covers NYCFC and mixed martial arts and believes the designated hitter should be banned from baseball.
