Vieira: We Never Accepted Defeat

NYCFC took all three points at Yankee Stadium against the Philadelphia Union, bouncing back from a tough midweek draw thanks to a flurry of late goals.

Center backs Maxime Chanot and Alexander Callens both scored their first goals for the club to seal the deal just minutes before the final whistle.

Vieira praised his team’s strong mentality after the match and their refusal to accept defeat that lifted them to victory after falling behind 1-0.

 “When you look at the game, we played quite well and you have to give them credit because their goalkeeper had a fantastic game,” Vieira told reports.

“They defended quite well, and then as a team, we didn’t accept the defeat and we fought back and I’m really proud of this game.

“I’m really happy for Maxime and Alex to score those goals, because lately the goals we’ve conceded, they’ve taken it a little bit personal.

“Today I’m really proud of my players because we had a long run away from home, we went one nil down and we found the desire to come back and win the game.”

Coming off a long road trip and a disappointing midweek result at home, Vieira commented on how the training staff have been managing the team to keep players fit during a particularly turbulent portion of the schedule.

“It’s a credit to the staff as well, when you look at the number of games, the way this team finished the game today, that’s telling me we’re working well,” he said.

“It’s a sign of how well we manage the team between games. Physically, we did really well. We were stronger than them and we finished the game on top. We showed today a different characteristic of our game.”

Also earning rave reviews from Vieira was rookie winger Jonathan Lewis, who was electric in his eleven minutes of action after replacing Tommy McNamara. Lewis showed his technical ability and pace, creating a number of dangerous attacking situations late in the match.

Vieira added: “All credit to him because he’s been working really well and he needed the opportunity to show he’s working well. He had it today and when he came on he gave pace, he was direct, and when Jonathan is like that he can give a lot of problems to a lot of defenses.

“He needs to develop himself but I’m really happy with him the last seven to ten days because of the attitude he’s showed.”