New York City FC drops second straight match in 2-0 road loss to LA Galaxy
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC dropped a second straight match after suffering a 2-0 road loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Dejan Joveljic scored for the Galaxy in the 41st minute, with a second half insurance goal coming from Diego Fagundez in the 49th minute.
Here are three observations from New York City’s loss to the Galaxy.
Errant pass costs New York City in first half
After a first half which saw neither side record a shot on goal through the opening 40 minutes, the Galaxy’s opening goal came off of a giveaway. A pass out of the back from James Sands was intercepted by Gabriel Pec, which quickly led to a cut back to set up an easy tap-in from Joveljic to open the scoring in the 41st minute.
“It's a goal that we're disappointed with,” head coach Nick Cushing said after the match. “I thought we started the game really bright. I thought we sort of knew exactly how we were going to hurt them, and although we weren't hurting them with goal chances, I think we were pretty in control of the game. We knew where their threat came from - but to give a goal away like that is always going to make it an uphill battle.”
Galaxy counter leads to quick second goal
After going into the halftime break trailing 1-0 off of that error, New York City conceded a second goal just four minutes into the second half. Off of a quick buildup out of the back, Pec found space on the right side and sent the ball into the box on a through ball to Joveljic, who then cut it back to set up an open shot for Fagundez.
“I think we had a moment to win the ball and we had the contact on it and we missed it. You're gonna give those moments away,” Cushing said about the buildup to the second goal. “I think if we give one away, but we have eight or nine or 10 regains, we're going to create more chances - but we've got to be sharper in those moments to make forward runs to pass the ball forward and create goal chances.”
Goal scoring struggles for New York City
Despite creating several opportunities, the goal ultimately never came for New York City. The chances didn’t come often through the opening minutes, with just four missed shots in the first 40 minutes of the match for a total expected goal value of 0.25.
The back of the net remained elusive in the second half after the Galaxy doubled the lead with the goal from Fagundez. New York City’s best chance of the match came in the 59th minute, when Malachi Jones took a close-range shot that was stopped by Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy in the 59th minute.
“I thought we regained the ball in the final third many times tonight - they have to lead to goal chances,” Cushing said. “I think we had moments where we get down the sides of teams and moments where we get into areas where we can create, we get opportunities to create and we have to have more of a threat. I think when we have one on the road [at] Toronto and Philly, it's because we have a really sharp offense.”
The shutout is a contrast with New York City’s recent form - since the club’s previous shutout loss to the Colorado Rapids on May 5, New York City had scored a combined 15 goals over a span of six matches for an average of 2.5 goals per match.
Next Up
It’s another short turnaround for New York City, who now face another road match against Nashville SC that will kick off on Saturday night at 8:30 P.M. Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will have the live radio broadcast from Tennessee, with live commentary getting underway at 8:15 P.M at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.