By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC is now winless in three straight league matches after a 1-1 draw against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium this afternoon. Dor Turgeman scored the opener for the Revolution, while James Sands equalized for the Pigeons.
Here are three takeaways from today’s match.
Early dominance leads to New England opener
From the opening whistle, the Revolution controlled much of the run of play. After a quiet first 20 minutes of the match, New England began to threaten consistently in the final third.
In the 25th minute, the Revolution earned a penalty kick after Peyton Miller was fouled by Sands in the box. Carles Gil stepped up to take it, but his penalty kick and the second point-blank shot on the rebound were both stopped by Matt Freese.
Miller had New England’s next big chance in the 32nd minute, when he dribbled around Freese and tried to slot the ball into the net – only to be denied with a clearance off the line from Sands.
The breakthrough finally came in the 37th minute. Jack Harrison lofted a long ball across to Miller on the end line, and Miller cut it back across the middle to set up a one-time finish from Turgeman to put New England ahead 1-0.
Pigeon persistence pays off
After conceding the opener to New England, New York City made a late push to level the match before halftime. The Pigeons created five chances in the final 10 minutes of the first half, including a shot from Talles Magno in the middle that ricocheted off the post.
In the first minute of stoppage time, the goal came. Nico Fernandez Mercau whipped in a corner from the right flag, and Magno headed it back across the middle. Sands got on the end of it and beat Matt Turner to pull New York City level.
It was Sands’ first goal for the club since a stoppage time equalizer against Inter Miami in 2024.
New York City keep pushing after halftime
After that frantic end to the first half, the tempo settled down considerably when both teams returned to the pitch after halftime. While New York City conceded 57 percent of the possession in the second half, the Pigeons did a much better job of creating chances with a 5-3 shots advantage during that span.
“In this game, knowing that you play against the Revs [who are in] good form at home, it’s very important that you stay in the game, and the second half was clearly a factor of both teams getting more fatigued as the game went on,” head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match. “Then you come to a point where you have to settle for a draw, and that is what we needed in order to get away from the performances that we’ve made so far.”
The best chance of that stretch came in the 63rd minute, when a long-range effort from Keaton Parks forced Turner into a diving save.
Next Up
New York City will wrap upthe current three-match road trip with a short flight north of the border to take on Toronto FC at BMO Field this Saturday. Toronto is coming off a major upset win over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at Nu Stadium last night.
Live radio commentary with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 7:15 p.m. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio
