Gudmundur Thorarinsson ‘s NYCYFC teammates celebrates his goal. Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports)
With one good swift kick in the 57th minute of New York City FC’s 5-0 rout Saturday, Gudmundur Thorarinsson not only broke his duck, but he also broke the backs of FC Cincinnati.
His 28-yard free kick boosted City into a three-goal advantage at Yankee Stadium, essentially ending the visitors’ chances of a comeback in the former’s home opener.
“I always say in games when you’re leading 2-0, it’s kind of like a dangerous leading score because they only need one goal to get back in the game,” Thorarinsson told NYCFC broadcasters Joe Tolleson and Ian Joy. “But after the third goal I kind of felt as though we were really comfortable and just cruising.”
It was the Icelandic international’s first goal in 817 minutes after joining the team last season.
Usually Maxi Moralez takes those type of set pieces, but for at least one attempt Saturday, things changed.
“We just kind of looked at each other and we saw the way the wall was posted,” Thorarinsson said. “The way the wall was standing and I kind of looked at him like, listen. He just agreed straight away. But then it’s another thing to stay focused on and put the ball in the right place and thankfully I did that.”
Thorarinsson smashed his free kick around a five-man wall and past goalkeeper Cody Cropper into the upper left corner.
Asked if he thought if the ball would go in, the defender replied, “I could kind of feel that. I hit it the way I wanted to but then you never know if the wall is going jump and reach it or whatever. But I had a good feeling as soon as I hit the ball. So. thankfully it went in.”
Beyond his goal and the other four scores, Thorarinsson thought NYCFC acquitted itself well, especially after last week’s 2-1 defeat at D.C. United in the season opener.
“We played really well,” he said. “Defensively, we were really strong, especially after a tough game last week when we felt as though we did not play the way we want to play. We really came out on the wrong foot because we had a great preseason. … What a game we played today, and I feel … from first minute to the last it was great.”
