NYCFC drop out of East lead in 2-1 road defeat to Philadelphia

By Chris Tsakonas

New York City FC now find themselves out of the Eastern Conference lead after a 2-1 defeat to the Philadelphia Union after a chaotic finish that saw two goals in the final six minutes of the match, the second being a 96th minute winner from Corey Burke.

The first half saw the Union get out to an early 1-0 lead after Alejandro Bedoya sprung free down the left flank before finding Mikael Uhre in the penalty area.

Uhre almost got a second goal in the 16th minute, getting on the end of a cross from Julian Carranza before it was stopped by Sean Johnson.

Philadelphia had another chance two minutes later, as Kai Wagner’s service found Jack Elliott for a free header, but Johnson came to the rescue again.

“The first half I think wasn’t the best half from us as a team,” Alfredo Morales said after the match. “We were a little bit too open, a little bit too far away from each other.”

NYCFC got another good chance off a counterattack in the 30th minute, as Nico Acevedo found Santi Rodriguez in the area, but the shot was just a bit high. Chris Gloster had a similar chance in the 42nd minute that was easily covered up by Andre Blake.

When the first half whistle blew, New York City had found themselves trailing on the road, having mustered only a single attempt on goal. Interim head coach Nick Cushing made two substitutions to start the second half, swapping Anton Tinnerholm for Tayvon Gray and Malte Amundsen for Chris Gloster. The swap marked Tinnerholm’s first time seeing the pitch this season, capping off 258 days without playing as he rehabbed an Achilles injury.

“It was incredible to have him back,” Cushing said. “We know the experience that he has in these type of games.”

NYCFC looked a bit more in control of the tempo to start the second half, and it began to turn into better chances. In the 55th minute, a give and go with Taty Castellanos set up Talles Magno for a shot from inside the box - but Blake made the stop again.

New York City’s next big chance would come in the 86th minute, when referee Armando Villarreal pointed to the spot due to a handball in the box from Kai Wagner. Taty Castellanos converted the penalty, placing it into the bottom left corner to tie the match late.

The Union got the last word, finding the back of the net after a shot from Jose Martinez was redirected in by Corey Burke. The goal was initially disallowed for offside, but was reinstated after a VAR check.

With the loss, New York City FC now find themselves winless through three matches under Cushing. The club will have a chance to get back into the win column with a Wednesday night match at FC Cincinnati.

“I don't think we will just put this game behind us,” Cushing said. “I think we will look at the first half and why we didn't get the control that we wanted, and we'll look at the second half and look at why we did get the control that we gained, and we'll take the positives out of it and we'll move on to Cincinnati.”