New York City FC coach Nick Cushing knows there are going to be bumps in the road.
And his club has had plenty on the road.
NYCFC (4-5-2, 14 points) has won just once away from home in 23 matches in all competitions since the start of last season heading into Saturday night’s match at Toronto FC (6-4-1, 19 points).
The lone victory in that 1-13-9 streak was 1-0 over CF Montreal last July.
“Progress is demotivating, progress is disappointing. You have to take the punches and go back and figure out how you continue to progress and improve a young team, a new team, to continue to win football games,” Cushing said.
NYCFC had a five-match undefeated streak (3-0-2), including three straight victories, snapped with a 2-0 loss at home to Colorado last Sunday.
“When you win … you feel like you’re on top of the world,” Cushing said. “And then you lose one, and you feel like you fell off the edge of a cliff.
“This team is on a journey, and it’s making progress.”
Santiago Rodriguez leads NYCFC with four goals and is one of three players with a team-leading two assists.
Toronto, meanwhile, has won three matches in a row, including 3-1 over visiting FC Dallas last Saturday as Federico Bernardeschi scored twice and had an assist.
“I really enjoy working with Fede; there are so many different layers to him,” Toronto FC coach John Herdman said. “I asked him to stay focused on his leadership. As I keep telling him … good things happen to good leadership, and the universe turns, and that’s what happened.”
With a victory Saturday, Toronto FC can equal its points total from last season (22) when it finished last overall in MLS.
NYCFC has won three straight matchups against Toronto, including 2-1 at home on March 16.
–Field Level Media
