NYCFC, Cushing: "He's amazing, the best central defender in the MLS"

Thanks to his goal, Alex Callens paved the way for NYCFC to victory. The defender was voted man of the match and Nick Cushing praised him after the match:

"I can't say enough about Alex Callens," said the coach. “It's a really interesting statistic: if you look at the streak we did, and we had a series of disappointing games, we really weren't in a moment of defeat until it went out at 2-2 in Columbus.

“He is an amazing guy. He is a guy who has gone out of his way to get the performance he has and in my opinion, at his level, he is by far the best central defender in the MLS.

“I don't want to pat myself on the back, but we have found a system where he can become a forward, midfielder and defender in 90 minutes! He is giving a lot to the team right now.

“I don't think you run into these guys very often. I've worked in men's and women's games and there are a handful of really special players - three or four that I coached in my day, and Alex Callens is one of them"