3.30pm 2 September 2023
Major League Soccer
New York City 1 Vancouver Whitecaps 1 (att 17,942)
This was my second visit to New York but the first time I’d included soccer on the itinerary.
It wasn't my first attempt to see New York City at the Yankee Stadium though. We'd booked a trip, and even had match tickets, in 2020 before the pandemic put paid to that.
So it was good to finally be able to return to the city, and to tick off one of the world's iconic sporting venues.
The current Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx area of New York, only opened in 2009. But it deserves its reputation as a great sports stadium as it was built as a replica of the original.
A stadium that's great for baseball is less good for football of course. The pitch is small and squeezed into the available space rather awkwardly. Sight lines aren't ideal, and the stands on one side are a distance from the playing area.
But it does make a refreshing change from the usual bland modern grounds, and added extra interest to what was, if truth be told, a rather ordinary 90 minutes of soccer.
Neither New York nor Vancouver are having great seasons, although the MSL's format means the Canadians are likely to make the play-offs, and City still have a decent chance.
New York were the better side, and went ahead after 55 minutes. Their lead lasted just five minutes, before a penalty put Vancouver back level. Both teams had half chances, and missed some clearer ones, but it's the venue rather than the game that I'll remember.
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