New York City FC earn road point with 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas City

Courtesy: NYCFC

By Chris Tsakonas

New York City FC split the points with Sporting Kansas City with a 1-1 draw at Children’s Mercy Park tonight. Andres Perea opened the scoring for New York City in the 22nd minute, while Daniel Salloi equalized for Kansas City in the 74th minute.

Here are three observations from tonight’s match.

New York City attacks early and often
In New York City’s last match against Orlando City, the story of the first half was an inability to create shots. Through the opening 45 minutes on Wednesday night, New York City was outshot by a 14-3 margin while conceding the first goal.

Tonight, we saw the polar opposite of that dynamic, as New York City created seven shots within the first 20 minutes while holding most of the possession. The breakthrough came in the 22nd minute, when a through ball from Maxi Moralez set up Andres Perea for a goal from the top of the penalty area. It was Perea’s first goal of the season, and it put New York City up 1-0 early on the road.

Kansas City answers back late
While New York City controlled most of the run of play in the first half, Kansas City gradually gained a foothold in the match as play continued. The turning point came in the 74th minute, when a shot from Santiago Munoz on the left side was stopped by Matt Freese. The ball came out to Daniel Salloi on the right, and the nine-year Sporting veteran finished to level the match at 1-1.

Youth movement nearly pushes New York City back in front
After Kansas City equalized and both sides had the required second-half hydration break, head coach Pascal Jansen looked to bring some life back into the match with the addition of Sebastiano Musu, Seymour Reid and Nico Cavallo off the bench. New York City sprung back to life after the move, creating five shots in the final 11 minutes of regular time for an expected goal value of 0.37. Musu was particularly active in his New York City debut, as he created three of those shots in the final minutes.

Next Up
New York City has another short week to prepare for the final road match of the trip against FC Dallas on Friday night. Dallas will come into Friday’s match on a high note after beating St. Louis City 3-0 earlier tonight. Live radio commentary with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 8:15 p.m. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.