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“I don’t want to see anybody not raising the roof and enjoying this one,” Cushing said postgame of his message to his players, allowing a flicker of a smile to flash across his face. “Because I’ve said before and I will continue to say that tough times make strong teams, and I think you’re starting to see the fruits of that.”
NYCFC and their fans have good reason to bust loose a bit, even beyond the sweet taste of bragging rights earned over their crosstown foes. Saturday’s win caps a haul of the maximum nine points from three games in seven days against Eastern Conference adversaries Toronto FC, Philadelphia Union and RBNY, the first two on the road – a phase of the schedule dubbed the “City Hate Gauntlet” by some members of the clubs’ supporters.
It all extends the Pigeons’ ongoing hot streak to 6W-1L-0D over the past month or so, propelling them to third place in the East and fifth in the overall MLS table. It’s quite a dramatic turnaround for a side that stumbled out to a 1W-4L-2D start, markedly raising the temperature of Cushing’s seat.
“These games are thick and fast and really tough. But I’m proud of the players to be able to turn around three wins in seven days, in three tough places,” added Cushing. “Toronto, we’ve not had so much joy recently, Philly we haven’t won for a long time, and then to beat our rivals at home in front of an amazing crowd, it capped off an amazing week.”
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