By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC will head into the World Cup break on a down note after falling 2-1 to Nashville SC at Geodis Park tonight. Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi scored for Nashville, while Nico Fernandez Mercau had the lone goal for the Pigeons.
Here are three thoughts from tonight’s match.
New York City burned twice on free headers
New York City conceded twice against Nashville tonight, and both of them came off of defensive lapses. The first came in the 16th minute off a corner kick from Cristian Espinoza. The cross went to the back post, where Jeisson Palacios was completely unmarked for a header that made it 1-0.
“Unfortunately, we conceded a goal where we give away a corner and we don’t defend well enough from our own principal perspective, because the finish at the back post is something that we were completely aware of, but few guys were out of position, so that is based on being very naive in those moments,” head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match.
Early in the second half, it happened again. Bryan Acosta whipped in a cross from the right side to the far post. This time, Woledzi had a step behind his defender Tayvon Gray and easily rose to head it past Freese to put Nashville back in front in the 49th minute.
Quiet response from New York City FC
After conceding the second goal to Woledzi, New York City still had 41 minutes to grab another equalizer. Despite holding most of the ball in the second half (compared to Nashville’s 60 percent possession in the first half), the Pigeons largely failed to turn that possession into quality chances.
From the end of the first half on, New York City went a total of 49 minutes without registering a single shot. That drought was finally snapped in the 2nd minute of stoppage time, when Fernandez Mercau got off a shot from the middle that was easily stopped by Brian Schwake.
City suffered an injury setback for the second match in a row, as Malachi Jones suffered an apparent shoulder injury in the first half and ultimately had to come off.
Fernandez Mercau lone bright spot for City attack
On a night where the Pigeons largely struggled to create in the final third, Fernandez Mercau still found a way to make an impact. After Malachi Jones was fouled in the 20th minute by Acosta, Fernandez Mercau stepped up to the penalty spot and converted for his 10th goal of the season.
Fernandez Mercau was City’s most active player throughout the match, creating three of the Pigeons’ four shots on goal for a total of 1.4 expected goals.
Next Up
New York City heads into the World Cup break just on the right side of the playoff hunt at 8th in the East on 19 points. The Pigeons’ next match will be on Wednesday, July 22 at the Columbus Crew. Live radio commentary will get underway at 7:15 p.m. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.
