NYCFC discuss tough defeat to Toronto FC

Art or Photo Credit: AP

New York City FC lost its first match in seven contests with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Toronto FC on Wednesday night. After the loss, head coach Ronny Deila and forward Gary Mackay-Steven shared their thoughts on the result:

NYCFC head coach Ronny Deila:

On the match ...

"Seventy minutes of this game was really, really good. We have to kill teams off when you have those chances we have. They don't have anything. For me, what I say is the first 70 minutes is something I can be really proud of. We're meeting one of the best teams and they were struggling with the intensity we played ... but right now, we can't finish things off and then we have to keep a 0. [Wednesday] we deserved to keep 0 as well, but you can't blame anybody [for the handball] ... then in the end we lose. The last 20 minutes we lost our intensity, we lost our pressure. We didn't move the ball. We were more talking about the ref than talking about playing the actual game. They were ready to get killed off the last 20 minutes but we couldn't manage to do it because we lost our focus and that's disappointing."

NYCFC forward Gary Mackay-Steven:

On team's struggle to score ...

"It's a lot worse in performances where you're not creating chances and you're not getting your opportunity. Obviously [Wednesday] was frustrating. I felt we dominated for long periods of the game. We didn't take our chances which it ultimately comes down to. I feel the buildup play, getting into the final third, we're doing a lot of good things and I feel it will turn for us. It's a little frustrating but it comes down to hard work on the training ground. The goals will come for sure, but we keep our heads up, keep positive ... a lot was good about [Wednesday], but we just need to work on getting the ball in the back of the net."