New York City FC will be hosting Toronto FC at the Yankee Stadium on Sunday, November 6th for the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. The two teams clashed a week ago in Toronto, where the local team managed to score twice at the last six minutes for a safe 0-2 win that gives them somewhat of an advantage for qualifying to the Conference Finals.
New York City FC actually entered that match with confidence, as they recorded 5 scoring chances at the first half, but they only 2 were on target. They had slightly more ball possession than their opponents, but their performance lasted only for the first half. Toronto appeared much better at the second half, as they recorded 12 scoring chances, with just 3 of those shots on target, but two of them were converted to goals. NYCFC only shot once at the enemy keeper, and they were totally outperformed throughout the second half. Altidore took the lead ath the 84th minute, while Ricketts doubled Toronto’s goals for the final 0-2. NYCFC will now rely on their experienced trio, consisted of Villa, Lampard and Pirlo, who have numerous titles and decades of experience at the top level. They will also receive the morale boost of thousands of NYCFC fans, who will be looking to push their team even further in their first ever play-off run. NYCFC are unbeaten in their last 8 home matches (7-0-1), while their last defeat came back in June 16th. Gomez and Brandt are listed as unavailable.
On the other hand, Toronto FC are coming into this match looking to play smart, as they took an almost unexpected win last time out. Toronto have been very competitive on the road throughout the whole season, having the second best road record in the Conference (6-6-5). They are also undefeated in their last 5 matches on the road (3-0-2), and they have generally shown a very good face when playing away from home. However, Toronto FC’s 0-2 victory against NYCFC last week was their first victory against the specific opponents, out of 6 matches so far (1-2-3). They will need to play a smart game here, and they know that staying back and playing only defense won’t cut it. NYCFC have been impressive at home so far, and it shouldn’t be too hard for them to score twice against Toronto. However, Toronto have scored in 14 of their 17 road matches so far in the season, and I believe that they will surely hurt NYCFC in one of their usual counter-attacks. One more parameter that is in their favour, is the fact that they will have a fully fit squad in one of the few occasions this season.