Miscues cost NYCFC in 3-1 loss to Philadelphia Union

Courtesy: NYCFC

By Chris Tsakonas

Three goals in ten minutes made the difference for the Philadelphia Union, as they beat New York City FC 3-1 in front of 23,820 at Citi Field. Julian Carranza had a brace for Philadelphia, while Gabriel Pereira had the only goal for NYCFC.

NYCFC opened the scoring in the 30th minute, when Gabriel Pereira put home a rebound tap-in after Richy Ledezma was denied by Andre Blake on a through ball.

The turn began in the first minute of stoppage time, when centerback Thiago Martins misjudged a ball that fell to Julian Carranza, who beat Luis Barraza on the ensuing one-on-one to draw the Union level.

Two minutes later, Carranza got on the end of a quick long ball from Mikael Uhre, finishing past Barraza off a quick counter attack to give the Union the 2-1 lead heading into the halftime break.

We know the way that [the Union] play, and and if you lose focus in moments, you can make the game difficult,” head coach Nick Cushing said after the match.

Those two Union goals flipped the script on what had otherwise been a half where New York City FC had the better of the play. NYCFC had 57 percent of the possession and a 10 to 5 advantage in total shots through the opening 45 minutes of play.

“We were applying our game very very well [in the first half],” Cushing said. “We were getting into really good offensive areas.”

New York City hoped to regroup coming out of halftime, but another miscue at the back proved costly when Martins took down Carranza just inside the penalty area. While the challenge was not deemed a red card worthy offense following a VAR review, Daniel Gazdag converted on the ensuing penalty to make it a 3-1 Philadelphia lead.

Martins suffered a knee injury on the play, and had to leave the match for Tony Alfaro after the penalty. In the post-match presser, Cushing said Martins was still in pain and will receive further evaluation tomorrow.

With the defeat, New York City dropped their first home match of the season, and now find themselves winless in their last six matches. It’s a short turnaround for NYCFC, as they return to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night to host FC Cincinnati in a rematch of their US Open Cup meeting earlier this month. It’s a tough matchup for New York City, as FC Cincinnati are currently leading the Supporter’s Shield race.