Early slump dooms New York City FC in 5-1 loss to Philadelphia Union
By Chris Tsakonas
NEW YORK - New York City’s MLS winless streak now stands at eight matches after a 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union at Yankee Stadium tonight. New York City conceded three goals inside the opening 32 minutes of the match, and an Alonso Martinez goal in the fifth minute of first half stoppage time wasn’t enough as the Union added two more goals in the second half.
Slow start takes New York City out of the match
Tonight’s game was ultimately decided in the opening half hour, as the Philadelphia Union scored three goals inside the opening 32 minutes.
The first goal came on the first shot on goal, with Olivier Mbaizo setting up a goal off a header from Tai Baribo in the 15th minute. Baribo set up the second goal in the 26th minute, as he cut it back to set up the finish from Mikael Uhre.
In the 32nd minute, the Union made it 3-0. After Tai Baribo’s header was saved by Matt Freese, the ball came loose and was put into the net by Daniel Gazdag. While New York City pulled one back with the Martinez goal just before halftime, the three-goal run shaped the course of the game.
Second half push falls short
Coming out of the halftime break, New York City sent numbers forward into the final third in a push to get back into the match.
New York City created several chances off of those scoring opportunities. In the 62nd minute, Keaton Parks found himself one-on-one with Union goalkeeper Andrew Rick - only to hit it off of the post. Four minutes later, Parks set up Bakrar in the box for a close range effort that was also saved by Rick.
The Union scored two more goals in the final minutes to pull away for good. Jacob Glesnes finished off of a header in the 74th minute to make it 4-1, and Jesus Bueno finished off a counterattack to make it 5-1 in the 85th minute.
Winless streak carries into playoff race
With the loss, New York City is now winless through the last eight league matches, with the most recent win remaining the 2-0 victory over CF Montreal on July 3.
The streak puts New York City in a tight spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. New York City remains at sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 40 points on the season, which is just four points above the cutoff line for the play-in game. Over the last five 34-match regular seasons, the eighth place team has finished with an average of 43.8 points in the table - which means New York City will likely have to pick up multiple wins over the last five matches to secure a spot in the top seven.
Next Up
New York City now face a quick turnaround, as they will remain at home for a Saturday afternoon matchup with Supporters’ Shield frontrunner Inter Miami. Miami will come to Yankee Stadium off of a 2-2 draw against Atlanta United tonight in a match where Lionel Messi came off the bench.
Live radio coverage will begin at 1:45 P.M., with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence on the call from Yankee Stadium at newyorkcityfc.com/radio and the Apple TV Home Radio feature.