New York City FC’s skid reaches three matches in 1-0 loss to Nashville SC
Courtesy: New York City FC
By Eddie Kalegi
After New York City FC’s remarkable stretch winning eight of nine matches, the boys in blue subsequently dropped consecutive games to the Columbus Crew and LA Galaxy, including their fifth scoreless effort of 2024 in southern California. New York City couldn’t turn the tide in Music City Saturday, falling 1-0 to Nashville SC for their third straight pointless effort.
New York City had some chances late, but couldn’t equalize after Tyler Boyd’s 23rd minute snipe, dropping to sixth-place in the Eastern Conference table.
Here are three thoughts on what went wrong as City fell to 0-3 historically at GEODIS Park in Tennessee.
Rotational Questions Remain Prominent
Saturday marked the highly anticipated return of Maxi Moralez to New York City’s starting eleven, 294 days after rupturing his ACL late last summer. His comeback did little to spark City’s attack, which was marked by discontinuity and miscommunication.
New York City failed to muster a single shot on target in the match. While much of this can be credited to Nashville’s impeccable defense, spearheaded by veteran center-back Walker Zimmerman, self-inflicted wounds severely limited City’s opportunities.
“We’re having trouble opening teams up,” head coach Nick Cushing said. “We have to develop the ability to create goal chances when the other team is imbalanced. We have to create more and be clinical when we do.”
Mounsef Bakrar’s struggles to be in sync with his veteran teammates have been paramount, as the Algerian striker has scored just once in 13 matches played this season. The backline has been extremely fluid with few players setting themselves apart from the rest, and while younger pieces like rookie Malachi Jones have shown promise, they haven’t been consistent.
Slow Start Proves Costly
It goes without saying, but New York City is typically at their best when they set the tone early in a match. This didn’t happen on Saturday, as it was Nashville’s attack that was full speed ahead from the onset. Frankly, New York City was lucky to only trail by a single goal at halftime, as Tyler Boyd missed a point blank chance with Matt Freese out of position just two minutes into the match.
In five matches where New York City has trailed after 45 minutes this season, they are yet to register a point.
Spring Fling Gives Way for June Swoon
Before their June 14th meeting with the Columbus Crew, New York City FC had returned to their 2021 MLS Cup championship form, accumulating 24 points over a nine match span. Since then, the offense has been blanked twice, while the defense has conceded some gut-wrenching goals.
“There’s positives in the performance, but this league is about executing results,” Cushing said.
It would be hard to completely undo the substantial spring success, but New York City’s 2024 iteration is proving to be a streaky squad. They are still firmly in a playoff position, but are slowly but surely giving significant ground, getting leapfrogged by both Charlotte FC and the Columbus Crew following Saturday’s league-wide action.
New York City will look to get back in the win column Friday night as they host Facundo Torres and Orlando City SC, fresh off a convincing 4-2 victory over the Chicago Fire.