The New York City Football Club is tired of press conferences when the team pulls out a draw. With 7 draws and a win in the past 8 Head Coach Nick Cushing and his squad have run out of things to say so the likes of us. I get it 100%. Still, 7 draws and a win is far better than 6 losses and a tie in 7, so clearly it’s progress. But after the latest discouraging draw that saw NYCFC not only outperform against a difficult Columbus home squad that saw them outshoot Columbus 9-4 but still come away with a 1-1 draw (coming 4 minutes into second half added time despite the Ohio club being down 1 red card on the field and amazingly another 2 on the coaching staff, including head coach Winifred Nancy), this is a team that’s clearly frustrated being unable to pick up 3 points despite doing so much right. Being the mathematical optimist that I am I decided to deep dive this 8 game unbeaten streak, including stats, figures and nuggets for the water cooler. But this took me some time to put together so let’s roll:
Buy NYCFC Merch Here!8 FACTS:
1) This Is The Team’s 3rd Longest Unbeaten Streak. Hard to believe, but this is the team’s 3rd longest unbeaten streak, having gone unbeaten in 12 back in 2019 and 9 in 2022. Doesn’t feel like it.
2) The Team Has Outshot Their Opponents 38-29 On Goal During This Stretch. But have actually be outshot 95-92 during this run. This means 41% of their shots during this stretch have been on goal vs 31% for the opposition and averaging 4.75 shots per game vs 3.6 given up. By comparison during the team’s 0-6-1 stretch (including the US Open) they were outshot 28-33, 4 shots per game to 4.7. A lot of numbers I admit, but short version, shots on net by the club are up, shots by the opponent are down. Bringing me to:
3) Their Goals Against Have Been Far More Stingy. During this 8 game run, the team has given up just 6 goals, including 3 clean sheets. 6 goals in 8 vs 22 in the first 15 matches. Additionally limiting Columbus to just 1 goal in each of their matches is an accomplishment in it’s own right; in the past 12 MLS matches Columbus has scored 2 goals or more in 10 of them. The two they only scored one were against NYCFC during this stretch.
4) Gabriel Pereira’s Numbers Are Up. Pereira has played in 7 of the team’s last 8 matches averaging 3 shots per game during this stretch. 1.9 the earlier part of the season.
5) Yellow Cards Are Basically Steady. The team has been at the top of the league in yellow cards this season, currently sitting 2nd with 60. I was surprised a bit to see this number didn’t change much during this stretch, averaging 2.625 during the stretch vs 2.6 the rest of the season. A bit of a nothing-burger there but worth a mention in case someone was curious.
6) Their Second Half Goals Against Has Improved. Prior to the streak the team was outscored a brutal 15-7 in the second half, the past 8 games, they’ve outscored their opponents 5-3. Massive change, even if that goal given up against Columbus was a heartbreaker.
7) The Team Set the Record For Most Draws in a Season. So this isn’t completely tied into the 8 game run, but I did find it interesting. At 11 draws, the team has already surpassed the 10 mark it set in 2019.
8) Opponents Have More Yards Dribbling Towards NYCFC’s Goal Per Game. Okay I admit I saved the most obscure, oddest nugget for last. Progressive Carrying Distance is the number of yards that a team dribbled TOWARDS an opponent’s goal. In the first 15 matches of the season teams averaged 648 yards per game dribbling towards NYCFC’s goal. In the past 8 matches, 934 yards. What this means basically is that opponents are forced to take the ball out of their own zone far more often and burn more energy being forced to get into an attacking zone. I didn’t know that was a stat until I looked into this, but I’ll be paying a lot more attention to this going forward.
So there’s my 8. There’s actually more stats I could have added into this but for now, that I think is more than plenty. The team faces a tough matchup on Saturday going into Subaru Park to face the Philadelphia Union so going into the one month break with a win would be huge for this club. I’ll delve into that later in the week, but in the meantime, stay awesome.
About the author – Scott Churchson has been an actor in every way for the past 13 years, from BG to stand in to stunts and principal, a sports writer for the past 4 and is one of the people that created Stream Punk Entertainment. He’s married to a veterinarian, has a cat with three working legs, a mother-in-law who just moved in and is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe.
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