Second half goals cost New York City FC in 3-2 loss to the Columbus Crew
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
NEW YORK - After going down a man in the 39th minute, New York City conceded three second-half goals to fall 3-2 to the Columbus Crew at Yankee Stadium tonight. The loss snapped a five-match winning streak for New York City, which had tied the all-time club record.
Here are three observations from New York City’s loss to Columbus.
First half red card proves costly
In a first half that saw Columbus control much of the run of play, New York City suffered a setback in the 39th minute when Mitja Illenic tackled Christian Ramirez and was sent off for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
While New York City opened the scoring on a quick counter with an Augustin Ojeda goal five minutes after, being down 10 men limited New York City’s options as Columbus pushed into the lead in the second half.
“The red card moment is one of those moments that just flipped the game on its head,” head coach Nick Cushing said after the match.
Second half Crew resurgence
After outshooting New York City by an 11-4 margin while controlling 55.6 percent of the first half possession, Columbus finally capitalized with three goals in the span of 17 minutes.
Cucho Hernandez found Ramirez for an equalizer just three minutes into the second half, while Mohamed Farsi scored the go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute off of a rebounded save from New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese.
Columbus added a critical third goal in the 65th minute off of a penalty kick from Hernandez, which ultimately proved to be the game winner.
Late New York City push falls short
After Hernandez’s penalty created a two-goal deficit, New York City made a late push to get back into the game. Substitute Malachi Jones had space on the right side of the box in the 78th minute, but his shot missed high.
In the 86th minute, Santi Rodriguez pulled one back by scoring one-on-one after getting on the end of a long ball over the top from Maxi Moralez. While New York CIty had 14 minutes of stoppage time to find an equalizer, the third goal ultimately never came.
Moralez was a bright spot off the bench for New York City, as he has recorded two assists in his first two appearances since returning from his torn ACL.
“We have to be patient with Maxi. We can see Maxi's quality, we can see his level of impact, we can see his experience and his influence on the team - but let's not rush it, because Maxi being right, putting it back into the games at the right time and being patient with this period post-injury is the most important variable for sure.”
Next Up
New York City will kick off a two-match road trip on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy currently sit at fourth place in the Western Conference after falling 1-0 to the Chicago Fire on Jun. 1. Before facing New York City, the Galaxy will host Sporting Kansas City tomorrow night.
Live radio coverage will get underway at 10:15 PM, with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence providing the commentary from California at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.