New York? More Like New Amsterdam

Cole Bassett took that experience he got in the Netherlands and brought it to New Amsterdam yesterday where he bossed the NYCFC defense for a goal and an assist en route to a 2-0 win.  He wasn't the Man of the Match (more on that later) but he was in the MLS Team of the Week.  Overall it was rather a chaotic game where the defense had to come up huge and the offense took advantage of their chances.

It really was a game of two halves.  In the first half the Burgundy Boys came out on the front foot, stayed aggressive, out shot NYCFC (7 shots and 2 shots on goal in the first half), and took a 1-0 lead and good vibes to the locker room.  The second half was a reversion to what we've seen a lot of the year, with a less aggressive team that didn't shoot (4 shots total) and who couldn't keep possession for long spells.  It wasn't until Bassett got the second in the 86th minute that it felt like we were likely to win, up to then it felt like we could fumble two points back to the Pigeons.

I don't know if it was the rain, the smaller field, the second road game in a row, or a combination of all of that but the ball possession and passing was very sloppy in this game.  There were long stretches of NYCFC attacking, the Rapids getting some sort of possession or controlled clearance, and then they would give the ball right back to the home side.  There was a particularly bad sequence where Fernandez gave it away, Cabral got it back, gave it away, then Vines let NYCFC play around him thinking (I assume) he had help that wasn't there.  Luckily New York couldn't hit anything on target so that series of mistakes didn't cost us.

Speaking of Vines, he's not the player he was when he went to Antwerp.  Over and over this game we saw wide open spaces on the left side, and this isn't the first game this season we've seen that.  His decision making is also slower than it was.  It does appear Armas wants him to pinch in more, not play the "Vines back" position on the line that he played under Hudson/Fraser, but that doesn't explain all of his struggles.  Hopefully he bounces back to his old self.

Navarro flashed the type of goal we've all been hoping to see with a great curled shot from about 14 yards out and on the side of the box.  Bassett did well to pick him out with a cross on the far post.  Cole then played an unintentional give-and-go with Harris (unintentional because I think Bassett wanted to lead Harris more to set him up for a shot but didn't pull it off, so Harris turned it into a give-and-go) to set himself up for the clinching goal.  That's now 9 goals between Navarro and Basset this season, all on the road.  Its also the third(?) time they've both scored in the same game.

A big hat-tip to the defense.  The commentator called them the Burgundy Forest during the match and I think that nickname is going to stick for a bit.  NYCFC kept sending cross after cross in and Bombito and Maxsø we're waiting to clear them back out.  The couple of times that the home side got a good look at goal they either sent it wide or Steffen was up for the save.

With the win the Rapids have equalized their win total from 2023 (5), only 11 games in.

Man of the Match: Moise Bombito.  Bassett was great, but it was Bombito who was everywhere breaking up NYCFC attacks and keeping the game scoreless and the Rapids on top.  Bassett sealed the game with the final goal but without Bombito he would have been retaking the lead, or tying the game.