ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC has never played in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where it will be Saturday to face the New England Revolution. For that matter, City SC has never made a trip to the northeastern United States to play any of the five teams there.
But no matter where City SC is going, it’s been down this road before.
City SC plays its 14th away game of the season on Saturday, against the Revolution in Gillette Stadium (6:30 p.m., Season Pass on Apple TV), and it has yet to win any of them. At 0-6-7, City SC is the only team left in the league that hasn’t won on the road, and if that doesn’t change in its final four road games, the team not only will become the 11th team in league history to go winless on the road for a season, but it most definitely won’t make the playoffs. It’s been almost a year, Sept. 23, 2023 at Minnesota, since City SC won away from CityPark.
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“I think we’re doing all the right things,†midfielder Indiana Vassilev said. “I feel like I say this a lot in these interviews that I do. Maybe people will stop believing me, but I truly feel we’re doing the right things. And if we perform the way we did against the Galaxy, in weather that’s not going to be as harsh as it was on Sunday, I think we’ll definitely give ourselves a chance.â€
City SC has certainly had a chance to win other road games, tying seven times. There was the early season tie with the Los Angeles Galaxy, when the Galaxy evened the game in the 95th minute. Or Portland’s tying goal in the 99th minute two weeks ago. Or a goal by Miami in the 85th minute. All games where if City SC had been able to close out the game, it wouldn’t be in the fix it’s in now, needing to win almost all of its final seven games to make the playoffs.
Maybe things are changing. One of the things the team did right in its 2-1 win over the conference-leading Galaxy was close the game out. In its other road adventures, City SC has been holding on for dear life in the closing minutes. On Sunday, City SC was able to hold possession and run out the clock.
“We haven’t (seen that much),†interim coach John Hackworth said. “It’s been the other end, we’re defending in our box like crazy. And so thankfully, that is a step in the right direction, and we want to continue to even get better and better at that.
“You got to get to a point where winning becomes something that not only you’re capable of doing, but you do. ... Basically the mentality wasn’t, ‘Hey, let’s not lose this game.’ It was, ‘Let’s go out and win it.’ And we did that.â€
Just over a month ago, on Aug. 2, New England and City SC swapped center backs, with Henry Kessler come to ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Tim Parker going east. Kessler has been in demand this week, regularly getting pigeon-holed by teammates and staff with questions about his former team. Kessler has played twice for City SC, while Parker has yet to play for New England, though that seems likely to change this week.
“I’m giving them all the information that I can, and I’m sure Tim’s doing the same thing for them,†Kessler said, “but I’m trying to be helpful in any way possible. Give them tactical information, personnel information, anything like that.â€
Both teams are in difficult spots. City SC is nine points in back of the last playoff spot in the West, and not only has to catch ninth-place Minnesota, but has to move past three other teams in between them, and City SC isn’t likely to hold the first tiebreaker — wins — on any of them because of its 12 ties. New England is in a three-way tie for last in the East, but is only five points out of the last playoff spot. The loser of this game won’t be eliminated, but will put itself in a bad position.
But City SC is on a rare high note, coming off the win over the Galaxy, the best team it’s beaten this season.
“Getting the first big win and getting it against an opponent like L.A. is the hardest thing to do,†Hackworth said. “And now the next challenge is, can we go put on a performance like we did here, away, in a totally different environment, in New England and but that’s what we have to do. So while, to use the term, the vibes are feeling good, we’re confident, it is a big challenge because we haven’t done it. So now we have to take that next step again. We feel good about the way we’re playing. From Leagues Cup through the Portland game to now L.A., we’ve gotten so many different tactical teams and different setups that we’ve made good adjustments. We just have to continue to get better and better in the areas that we know we have to improve.â€
New England was, including the Leagues Cup, undefeated in five games before losing to Real Salt Lake on Saturday, with two wins and three ties.
“It’s a difficult place to go,†Kessler said. “The (artificial) surface can be difficult. It’s a good team and I think their recent results have shown that. It’s going to take a complete team effort. If we have the lead, we need to close out the game well. Obviously, we need to do a good job around their front guys, they’ve got some dynamic guys up top. So, we need to do a good job with them, but it’s going to take a team effort.â€
City SC is playing as well as it has all season, with three wins, three ties and a loss in its past seven games over MLS and Leagues Cup play. Those results coincide with the arrival of its three new offensive players, Marcel Hartel, Cedric Teuchert and Simon Becher. Hartel missed some practice time this week to try to get an injury suffered in the second Portland game to get better. Hackworth expected him to play.