NYCFC Finally Breaks a Dubious Streak
By Mike Gambill
The entire NYCFC squad, from the players, coaches, and front office, can finally shake the proverbial monkey off of their collective backs. Heading into this past Saturday’s match north of the border to face a tough CF Montreal side, the Pigeons held the distinction of having the longest winless slump in the entire MLS this season. While Al Michael’s famous “Do you believe in miracles?” statement is probably a bit much for this scenario, NYCFC finally breaks a dubious streak to start the month of July.
NYCFC Finally Breaks a Dubious Streak.
Going into this past Saturday’s match against CF Montreal, NYCFC held the odious distinction of having the longest winless streak in Major League Soccer with an eleven-match winless span and going 0-5-6 since their last win against FC Dallas back on April 22nd. The early season looked to be a productive one for the Pigeons and the convincing 3-1 at Citi Field late in April sealed the impression that this squad was on the verge of challenging the top sides in the Eastern Conference for dominance this season.
And then the wheels came falling off and NYCFC sputtered into a spiral of losses and almost wins for the entire months of May and June. While NYCFC certainly has not been the worst team in the Eastern Conference, their eleven-match winless skid certainly didn’t do anything to help solidify any chance of moving into a potential playoff position this fall.
Ironically, while NYCFC held the longest winless streak in MLS this season, they also have the second-longest unbeaten streak in the same league right now with a 1-0-5 record in the last six matches. If you’re looking for the epitome of a sports dichotomy right now, just look at NYCFC. This squad has had a tough time winning anything the past few months and can’t seem to lose lately either.
Can the Pigeons turn the page and resurrect what’s left of the season?
NYCFC’s win this past Saturday night was critically important for two distinct reasons. Firstly, this win was the very first road win of this season for the Pigeons, and even more importantly, this side moves to within two points of being outside of qualifying for the MLS Cup playoffs. It’s no irony that Inter Miami castoff Matias Pellegrini scored his very first goal with NYCFC to lift the Pigeons to their first road win and break their winless streak this past weekend.
Again, the proverbial monkey off of their backs, maybe NYCFC can get back on track and continue their winning streak because they will need to in order to stay afloat in the competitive Eastern Conference. Whether this season is a rebuilding year or not isn’t the story anymore – staying in playoff contention should be the only goal for NYCFC as the hot summer months set in.