The Chicago Fire seek their first points away from Toyota Park Friday night, paying their first visit to expansion side New York City FC and Yankee Stadium for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff. The match is the first of seven straight against Eastern Conference foes for the Men In Red, who enter the weekend above the playoff line with nine points through eight games.
The match leads off a nationally broadcast MLS doubleheader on Univision Deportes, with a live online stream also available. Click here for instructions on how to watch the English-language broadcast of the match via the SAP settings on your cable box.
Both sides have firm agendas heading into the match, beginning with Chicago’s desire to start fast in enemy territory and ultimately end its road winless streak. Their hosts, meanwhile, have not won in eight games and are in need of re-establishing an identity after a humbling loss to their cross-river rivals, New York Red Bulls.
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<b>Cocis, Accam Preview NYCFC </b> |
OPPONENT PROFILE
Record: 1-6-3, six points
Last five matches: 0-4-1, one point
Goals leader: Mehdi Ballouchy/Patrick Mullins/David Villa (2)
Assists leader: Ned Grabavoy (2)
Saves leader: Josh Saunders (28)
Numbers to know
7 – Goals scored by New York City FC in 10 games this season. It has them tied for the second-lowest scoring output in MLS, alongside the Fire. However, the Men in Red have played two fewer games than their Friday foe.
13 – Shots on goal by David Villa. The Spanish striker -- who did not play in NYCFC's trip to Toyota Park -- has been recovering from a hip issue and playing limited minutes as a result, but he still leads MLS in SOG per game. The chances are coming regularly when he is on the field, even though he has only converted them into two goals.
Keep An Eye On:
It’s all about the midfield for New York City FC. Mix Diskerud never got into a groove against the Red Bulls but he has proven to be the team’s top playmaker as he does his best to cover his myriad offensive and defensive responsibilities. With Frank Lampard yet to land in the Big Apple, Diskerud’s long-locked brethren Ned Grabavoy has patrolled the midfield with Diskerud and done a fine job controlling possession on the narrow field and springing Khiry Shelton and Mehdi Ballouchy into the attacking third. When the NYCFC midfield is playing with a sense of urgency -- as they are likely to be on Friday -- this team creates plenty of chances.
Last Time They Met
• Chicago and NYCFC are meeting for the second time in less than a month following the Fire’s 1-0 defeat over a short-handed NYC squad April 24 at Toyota Park. The game's lone goal came in the 20th minute. NYCFC goalkeeper Ryan Meara failed to corral a wayward backpass near the endline, and in an attempt to keep the ball from going out for a corner, inadvertently spilled the ball right to David Accam, who calmly collected the loose ball and finished into an open net from the left.
• Just three minutes later, Accam turned the screw again when he was dragged down from behind by NYCFC midfielder Andrew Jacobson as he was clear in on goal, and referee Ricardo Salazar showed a red card to reduce the visitors to 10 men.
• Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson recorded four saves in recording his second consecutive clean sheet.
Looking at the Men In Red
• After playing 10 games for the Fire in 2014, midfielder Razvan Cocis made his 2015 debut Saturday vs. Real Salt Lake. Cocis entered the game in place of the injured Matt Watson -- who has been ruled out of Friday night’s contest -- and played 37 minutes, looking strong after his recovery from a foot injury that sidelined him throughout March and April.
“It felt good, I was off the pitch for a long time,” Cocis said. “With injury it’s always hard to come back, so it felt good but it was too bad for the result.”
• Lovel Palmer also returned to a starting role in the Fire back four after three matches out of the side. Palmer went the full 90 minutes and was a consistent presence in the attacking third for Chicago.
• On his club's lack of goal-scoring consistency, Frank Yallop had this to say: "It's a game of goals, only one scored from a penalty kick (vs. Real Salt Lake) and we just got to keep going and not lose faith in what we’re doing,” Yallop said. “We’re getting in certain spots on the field well, I think we’re overlapping well, our switching of play was good, our general play was what we talked about but just that final play, that cutting edge and confidence wasn’t there.”
