New York City FC coach Patrick Vieira said the team’s friendly against Necaxa would be a chance for some on his roster who haven’t gotten much of a chance to see minutes to get some much needed playing time.
No one responded more positively to the challenge than goalkeeper Eirik Johannsen.
In his first game since facing the New York Cosmos in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in June, Johansen was stellar in a 2-1 loss to Necaxa Friday night at Estadio Victoria.
“When you get limited chances you have to take them as they come,” Johansen said. “I’ve just been trying to keep my head down in training, work hard and make myself deserve a spot on the team. I think with the performance today, I showed I can play on this level. Now it’s up to the boss to take it into consideration. Saying that, Josh [Saunders] has done well this season as well.”
Saunders has played every minute of every MLS game this season, but Johansen has trained well, waiting for his chance to come.
“I think Eirik was fantastic tonight. I think from the start to the end he showed a lot of personality and I was really pleased with his performance,” Vieira said. “I think Eirik tonight showed how good he is as a goalkeeper and he’s in our plan. He’s been working really hard, really well the last few weeks and he deserved a good game tonight.”
Johansen used all of his 6-foot-7 frame to cut down angles and control his 18-yard box. He also pounced off his line to chase down loose balls and force Necaxa attackers into quick decisions.
“I think Eirik was amazing today,” NYCFC captain David Villa said. “In the first half, thanks to him, we were in the game for 90 minutes.”
Johansen said the atmosphere, and the pitch, at Estadio Victoria proved to be difficult, but he was happy to be back in the net in a competitive match.
“It was a good atmosphere and a bit noisy, but we expected that and we expected a tough game,” Johansen said. “It was hard to play today with the state of the pitch, which was a bit unfortunate, but for me personally it was very nice to get a game again. It’s been a while. It’s always nice to play 90 minutes.”
