Three late goals cost New York City FC in 4-3 loss to Atlanta United
Courtesy: New York City FC
By Chris Tsakonas
A late comeback proved costly for New York City FC tonight in a 4-3 road loss to Atlanta United FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium tonight. New York City led 3-1 with 30 minutes remaining in the match before Atlanta United scored three straight to clinch the three points.
Three late goals lead to three dropped points
An early theme of New York City’s road matches this season has been dropping points after conceding late. In the season opener against Inter Miami, Telasco Segovia scored in the 10th minute of stoppage time to equalize in a 2-2 draw, while Ryan Hollingshead scored the lone goal in the 86th minute the following week in a 1-0 loss to LAFC.
Tonight, late goals hurt New York City again.
The Atlanta comeback began in the 62nd minute, when Lobzhanidze whipped in a cross from the right flank that deflected off Keaton Parks for an own goal. Atlanta United equalized in the 75th minute, when Emmanuel Latte Lath delivered a cross from the right to set up a headed goal from Miguel Almiron.
The breaking point came in the 84th minute, as a miscommunication between Thiago Martins and Matt Freese allowed Latte Lath to chip the match-winning goal into the back of the net.
“There [was] that own goal, which brings a little bit more energy to the opponent, but still there was nothing going on,” New York City manager Pascal Jansen said. “Then there's a phase where we defensively switched off, and we allow them to get crosses into the box, and we don't defend the box well enough like we did last week in Columbus, and you get punished for a few errors made.”
New York City snap road scoring struggles early
Scoring on the road has also been a struggle for New York City FC. Through three matches away from the five boroughs this season, New York City had found the back of the net only twice - with both of those goals coming in the season opener against Inter Miami in February. Since then, New York City went 215 minutes without scoring a goal on the road.
Tonight, New York City took only 15 minutes to snap that streak. After a sharp-angle shot from Martinez was saved by Brad Guzan, the rebound fell to Hannes Wolf in the middle - and he buried it to open the scoring. That goal kept New York City in the driver’s seat until the 42nd minute, when Aleksey Miranchuk equalized to make it 1-1.
Martinez and Wolf led one-two punch to drive second half start
After coming out of the halftime break with a 1-1 scoreline, New York City wasted no time taking the lead. First, Martinez stepped up to the spot to take a penalty kick in the 48th minute - and he buried it into the roof of the net to give New York City the 2-1 lead.
Three minutes later, a giveaway at the back from Dominik Chong Qui set up a cross from Julian Fernandez on the right to set up Wolf’s second goal of the night. The goal marked New York City’s first match of the season with three or more goals scored - and it looked like a potential clinching moment tonight.
Next Up
New York City will return to the Bronx next Sunday to take on Minnesota United FC. Live commentary with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 2:45 P.M. on newyorkcityfc.com/radio and the Apple TV Home Radio feature.