Anton Tinnerholm celebrates his goal with teammate Saad Abdul-Salaam. (Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports)
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
As an outside back not exactly known for his goal-scoring ability, Anton Tinnerholm’s production can’t get too much better than this.
He has taken two shots this Major League Soccer season and has scored two goals.
His latest goal came in New York City FC’s 2-1 comeback win over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday night,
Tinnerholm said was inspired by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a fellow Swede who struck twice for the LA Galaxy in its remarkable comeback victory over the LA Football Club in his MLS debut earlier in the day.
“The ball came to me and I got a great hit,” Tinnherholm told reporters at Avaya Stadium. “I haven’t scored any goals like that in 25 years but now it’s a new tradition. I was inspired by Zlatan earlier today, so I don’t want to get worse than him. I think my goal was harder. That’s how we do it in Sweden. “
Tinnerholm, usually a right back, was played out of position as he started on the left side. That did not matter at all to the 27-year-old.
“I played in this position in about seven or eight games last season, so I know what to do but it’s different especially in the build-up,” he said, “but I do what the coach tells me to do and I think it worked out pretty well. As I said before, I have played there before so it is no problem. I do whatever is best for the team.”
For the second consecutive week, NYCFC overcame a slow start to grab an impressive comeback result on the road.
Last Saturday, City played the host New England Revolution to a 2-2 draw.
This past Saturday, NYCFC allowed the Quakes take a 1-0 lead in the third minute before the visitors stormed back for that win.
“The main thing today is that we keep fighting together,” Tinnerholm said. “It was a similar game in the end due to the game in Kansas in the opening game. It was a tough game and they put the pressure pretty hard on us especially in the end of the game. They put a lot of long balls in the box, but we kept on fighting as a team and it was a really tough one especially after the second goal. I’m really proud of the team today.”