New York City FC drop first leg of Champions League semis 3-1 to Seattle
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
Two first half goals made the difference, as New York City FC fell 3-1 to the Seattle Sounders in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals at Lumen Field.
“We wanted a little bit of a better result of course,” manager Ronny Deila said after the game. “For 80 percent of the game, we had full control.”
The Sounders opened the scoring in the 16th minute. A 13 pass buildup was capped off by a Jordan Morris feed inside the box to Albert Rusnak, who beat Sean Johnson at close range for the early 1-0 lead.
In the 27th minute, NYCFC got their equalizer. Malte Amundsen took a lead pass from Talles Magno down the left flank and floated a cross into the box. Taty Castellanos nodded it down to Thiago Andrade, who finished to make it 1-1 in the 27th minute.
It didn’t take much time for Seattle to strike back. The Sounders capitalized on a defensive breakdown, and Cristian Roldan squared a ball from the endline to the far left post, where Morris powered a shot into the upper right corner in the 32nd minute.
“There were some key moments in the game that we weren’t close enough [defensively],” Deila said. “They are deadly when they get opportunities like that.”
Malte Amundsen got the first good look of the second half for NYCFC, getting on the end of a cross from Magno that was saved in the 55th minute. Castellanos had a golden opportunity shortly thereafter off a ball into the area from Keaton Parks, but he fired it above the goal and into the stands.
Controversy ensued in the 67th minute, when the Sounders were awarded a penalty after a VAR check when Alexander Callens made contact with Raul Ruidiaz inside the box. Nico Lodeiro converted the ensuing penalty kick to make it a 3-1 Sounders lead.
New York City FC had a few opportunities to get another goal in the final 25 minutes. In the 83rd minute, Talles Magno set up a shot at the edge of the area for Nico Acevedo that was saved.
Castellanos had another opportunity in the 90th minute off a free kick from the edge of the box, but it just missed the corner of the net.
WIth the aggregate score now at 3-1 following the first leg, NYCFC will have a full week to prepare for the return leg next Wednesday at Red Bull Arena. They need a 2-0 win to advance to the first Champions League final in club history.
“We’ve [won 2-0] many times before,” Deila said. “I know we can do better than we did today, at the same time we know how good we are when we are at home.”