Match Recap; NYCFC 3-1 Comunicaciones; A Win on the Pitch, but a Loss in the Stands

Match Summary

In the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League quarter-final, NYCFC came up against Guatemalan club, Comunicaciones, in what turned into quite the captivating affair in Connecticut. Due to the small field dimensions of Yankee Stadium, The Pigeons found themselves flying away from the five boroughs for their second “home” game in as many weeks in order to meet Concacaf’s regulations. But, playing so far from the city came with a price for The Boys in Blue, as Comunicaciones fans came out in full force. With so few NYCFC fans making the 2+ hour trip on a weeknight, the Guatemalan club’s supporters made Pratt & Whitney Stadium their own, and dominated the atmosphere at the grounds. While it was technically a home game for NYCFC, it felt like they just had their first of two away legs on Tuesday.

Comunicaciones Fans Out in Full Force in Connecticut

But, despite the strong support from the Comunicaciones faithful, NYCFC simply packed too much firepower on the pitch. Taty Castellanos was on his absolute A-game, finishing the game with a goal and two assists, and combined threateningly with Maxi Moralez for the majority of the affair. Santi Rodriguez got himself involved as well, finishing the match with a goal and an assist.

But, despite NYCFC’s brilliant attacking play, Comunicaciones never once backed down during the first 90 minutes. They constantly would commit numbers forward (sometimes to their own detriment) in search of crucial away goals that, while being scraped on the European stage, still hold a lot of weight here in Concacaf as the primary tie-breaker. The Guatemalan side forced home their lone road goal early in the second half with the scrappy tap-in from the Panamanian central defender, Manuel Gamboa. Additionally, the visitors threatened late in the match with a looping shot that, luckily for NYCFC, struck the inside of the post and stayed out.

Maxi Moralez Celebrates his Go-ahead Goal with Teammates

NYCFC head down to Guatemala to play their official away leg on Tuesday, March 15th to settle the tie. But until then, lets look at some positives and negatives from the first leg.

The Positives

1) Taty Castellanos is a beast

Taty looked unreal on Tuesday night, absolutely dominating play in the final third all game long. His confidence looked over the moon, as he was trying ridiculous stuff all night. I’m talking rabona’s for basically no reason, trying to bike absolutely everything, and pulling long-shots from fully 25 yards out when left open. And…why not? The dude is on fire right now, especially in CCL, where he has 5 goal involvements in 3 games so far this season.

Taty Castellanos Celebrates his Goal

He has earned every right to play as audaciously as he's playing right now, and if he sustains this level he could seriously lead this team to more silverware before his rumored exit this summer.

2) Santi Rodriguez: the successor to Maxi Moralez?

Despite probably being overshadowed by the dominant performance of Taty, Santi Rodriguez looked dangerous all night as well. He provided the assist to Taty’s diving header in the first half, with a whipped in ball measured perfectly to the near post. And, to reverse the roles in the second half, Taty fed a well-weighted ball into an unmarked Santi, who kept his composure brilliantly and slotted it home 1v1 with the keeper.

But it wasn’t just the goal and assist that stood out for Santi on Tuesday, it was his overall play and ability to drift into a more central role that was exciting. He was cleverly finding pockets of space behind the opponent’s midfield and in front of their backline, and occupying the space often filled by Maxi Moralez (who also had a great showing). He even played some “maxi-esque” chipped balls over the back line, and drifted into areas on the dribble that we’ve really only seen our little Argentine do before.

Looking long term, with Maxi being 35 years old now, Santi could be someone that the club looks to long-term to fill that void when our legendary number 10 moves on from the club. And yes, he is a loanee from Uruguayan club Montevideo City Torque, but given Santi’s form and potential I would be shocked if NYCFC didn’t make a move for him to remain at the club on a permanent basis. At just 22 years old, he looks like he could be comfortable in a #10 role moving forward, and could lock down that position for NYCFC for years to come.

3) Andres Jasson…the right back?

I shouted out the young lad from Greenwich, CT as someone who could have a potential breakout season in a previous blog post, but I have to say, I didn’t expect him breaking out due to his display at right back. But, given the current injury situation at the right fullback position, it seems like that’s his path to first team minutes right now, and Jasson is making his case to skipper Ronny Deila for the starting role while Gray and Tinnerholm are sidelined.

At times, he did look a bit outmatched on the physical side of defending, as he is a young player with a pretty small frame, but the grit was definitely there. He didn’t win much in the air, but he did make a few key clearances at the near post and was able to contain their attackers with relative success.

Andres Jasson Warms up Before his Start vs Comunicaciones

As you might expect for someone who’s naturally a winger, he looked his best when he was on the ball, and going forward. A more “modern fullback” vibe if you will. At his best, the ball seems glued to his feet, and he was able to beat opponents 1v1 as well as draw a number of fouls throughout the game.

It wasn’t a flawless performance, but there were plenty of positives to build on from the young homegrown baller playing out of position.

The Negatives

1) The atmosphere

A pretty obvious downside of the match for NYCFC was that they were completely out-numbered in the stands during what was supposed to be their home leg. Comunicaciones fans showed up in much greater numbers, they were louder, and they provided far more presence than the NYCFC fans. Basically, this felt a lot like an away game, and worse yet, they still have to play an actual away game next week in Guatemala.

Comunicaciones Fans Fill the Stands at Pratt and Whitney Stadium

So, pretty tough look there for the club, but it is probably more of a reflection of the circumstances rather than the actual size of each fanbase. For New Yorkers, getting to this game was nearly impossible on a Tuesday night, as Google Maps has it clocking in at a 2:53 minute drive each way. But that’s only if you’re a New Yorker with a car, which obviously isn’t always the case. Taking public transportation to the game is listed as taking over 4 hours from Manhattan, which on a weekday is just simply not an option for most people with a traditional work schedule.

So with that said, this is more of a reflection of NYCFC’s ongoing stadium issues than anything else. If that game was at Yankee Stadium, I still think there’d be great turnout from the Comunicaciones fans, but the atmosphere would have been a lot more mixed rather than it just being away fans bringing the atmosphere at the grounds. But credit to the Comunicaciones fans - they were pretty awesome to watch in truth.

2) The away goal

While I think many NYCFC fans would’ve taken a 3-1 scoreline before kickoff, that one away goal does give Comunicaciones a glimmer of hope going into the second leg. For example, a 2-0 scoreline would see them through to the semi-final. And while it’s a big task to shutout the likes of Taty Castellanos and Maxi Moralez both in good form, you can’t entirely rule it out given the fact that NYCFC have been shutout in both of their first two MLS games of the season. And, Comunicaciones were hardly toothless in the attack in the first leg. They were constantly throwing bodies forward, taking risks, and they ultimately created a fair number of chances. They scored a goal against what has been a solid defense so far this season, and were denied by the woodwork later on…so they do offer something.

Comunicaciones Goalscorer, Manuel Gamboa

And, given how strong their support was on the road, one can only imagine that there will be an intense atmosphere in Guatemala for their home leg. So, if a couple more bounces go their way and they get the crowd behind them, I would say this tie is certainly not done and dusted going into next Tuesday.