New York City Football Club Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing has praised his defensive unit in the wake of the team’s victory over Inter Miami CF.
Goals from Maxi Moralez and Héber handed NYCFC a 2-0 result at Yankee Stadium and helped keep the team near the top of the Eastern Conference. The confirmation of a third clean sheet in a row also helped reinforce the team’s goal difference, and Cushing was keen to celebrate the contribution of his backline after the game.
“I thought defensively we're really solid today,” Cushing said. “Although I thought they had some moments in our box I don't think Sean Johnson had so many real difficult save to make and we got some blocks. Tayvon is an incredible one v one defender. He's a good young player with potential and he's improving every week. He's working hard and he needs to continue to work hard.
“I actually thought our two central defenders were incredible tonight. They were really strong with the ball. They were incredible at pushing the line and playing a real high line at times. In the box, they did their job exceptionally well. I thought by far our central defenders were our two star performers today.”
Elsewhere, Cushing also hailed the performance of Héber after he secured his sixth goal of the season on Saturday. The striker was a second-half substitute for Taty Castellanos and crowned his cameo with a goal in the 75th minute from a Malte Amundsen cross to confirm the victory.
“I think you can see in our squad that we have quality," Cushing said. "We have two moments where Taty Castellanos has been suspended and once when he had an injury and we've put Héber in and he scored two at Cincinnati, one at Dallas, and again today. Héber is a ruthless number nine. He has shown since his knee injury how hard he works, and how clinical he is in the box.”
