SOLID START FOR NYCFC ENDS WITH 3-1 LOSS TO RIVAL PHILLY

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, USA Today Sports

 

Article by Scott Churchson

Columnist and Host of The Sports Den on Spanglish World Networks, Spanglish Sports World & Zingo TV

 

New York. - Despite a strong start, the New York City Football Club is now winless in their last 6 after falling to the rival Philadelphia Union at home 3-1. For the first 30 minutes NYCFC had a stellar start, firing off an impressive 5 shots on goalkeeper Andre Blake, including a huge goal Gabriel Pereira to a left footed shot to the left side of the goal for an early 1-0 score.

 

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, USA Today Sports

 

This season the Citizens were undefeated in matches they went into halftime with a lead, going 4-0-1 this season when up at the half. Going in at halftime up 1-0 would have been huge for this young club, however it wasn’t meant to be as added time turned excitement and positivity into a brutal gut check as Julián Carranza picked up not one but two goals, first at 45+1 followed just 2 minutes later on a pair of right footed shots that took that 1-0 lead into a shocking 2-1 deficit going into the half.

 

In the early moments of the second half Carranza nearly made it a hat trick twice over, first with a shot off the post followed by being awarded a penalty at the 52 minute mark at the tip of the box after being knocked to the ground by Thiago Martins, a call confirmed via VAR, however rather than taking the PK, the shot, and the goal went to Daniel Gazdag, tying the two for the Union team lead with 7 on the year.

 

 

NYCFC tried several times to close the gap but in the end, what was initially a fired up crowd turned to boos as the team lost it’s 6th game in now just 14 matches.

 

Head Coach Nick Cushing was blunt in the press conference regarding how the team feels right now.

“Players are really frustrated. I think you can see the frustration at the end of the first half. At the end of the game there was more frustration because we knew we were in the game at 1- 0. We have control and then the game swings. This team has to learn from these moments. Individuals have to learn from these moments because that’s how you become a team that’s mature and can feel the pressure and still retain leads. It’s painful learning, but what I see following all these difficult moments is a team that is really trying to work hard to learn and improve in these areas.”

 

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, USA Today Sports

 

There’s no rest for NYCFC as the team continues it’s 3 challenging 3 game homestand, this time taking on the best in the league in Cincinnati, who’s 10 points in 14 matches gives them a full 33 points this season, 7 better than the second best team in the league (Seattle at 26)

 

3 NOTES

 

1) NYCFC did put on decent pressure on goalkeeper Andre Blake, registering 7 shots on goal for the second time this season.

 

2) This was not only the first loss of the season for NYCFC at home, this was the first loss the club had at Citi Field since starting play some home games there last season.

 

3) Regarding the match against FC Cincinnati on Wednesday, The Garys only loss this season came on April 15 on the road against St. Louis. NYCFC did put up a solid matchup on the road against Cincy earlier this month in the opening round of the US Open tournament, losing in a 1-0 final playing mostly backups.