In the New York City Football Club’s first match back in Philadelphia since their 2-1 Eastern Conference Win against the COVID-19 depleted Union back in December, NYCFC found themselves on the losing side of a 2-1 match against Doop-Nation, dropping down to second place in the East and snapping their 9 game MLS unbeaten streak.
In a match that saw the Union control much of the play during the first half, including outshooting New York 4 to 1 on goal, Philadelphia needed only 9 minutes to take a 1-0 lead on a cross pass to Mikael Urhe and onto the right side of the net for the early lead. New York struggled for much of the half to get any kind of pressure on goalkeeper Andre Blake.
1495 Sports is proud to bring the following New York City FC Post Match Press Conference Video featuring thoughts from Coach Nick Cushing:
The second half saw a slight improvement in pressure on Blake, starting with a shot by Talles Magno ten minutes into the half. However that aside the team was unable to muster much even with the return of Anton Tinnerholm to start the half. Frustration boiled over at the 75 minute mark as fights broke out, ending with two NYCFC yellow cards, one for Alexander Callens and Taty Castellanos, followed a few minutes later with another on Maxi Moralez.
1495 Sports is also proud to bring the following NYCFC Post Match Press Conference video featuring thoughts from Midfielder Alfredo Morales:
Frankly the most exciting thing the half had to offer for either team until a questionable handball at the 87th minute resulting in a penalty kick goal by Castellanos, his 8th of the year and what was almost a 1-1 final. UNTIL a goal by Cory Burke in added time as goalkeeper Sean Johnson slipped on the shot and a resulting 2-1 Union win, with concerns rising on Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing’s chances at staying in charge as the team drops out of first place.
Next up, in Cincinnati on Wednesday and a chance to go 7-0 in their history against the Ohio team.
5 Notes:
1) After taking over for Ronny Deila, Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing is 0-2-1 in his first three matches including the US Open match loss against RBNY Wednesday. Further they’ve been outscored 6-2 in those 3 matches.
2) Cincinnati FC is a much improved team this season vs years past. Since joining MLS back in 2019, Cincy has endured three straight losing seasons, however this year is currently sitting in 7th place with a 6-5-1 record, including 3-4-0 at home.
3) One of the highlights for fans of the Gents in Blue was the long awaited return of Anton Tinnerholm to start the second half. It would be his first match since October last year after rupturing his Achilles tendon. His influence in that second half lead to the penalty kick by Castellanos in the 89th minute.
4) Although the team has tied 8 of their last 10 matches, the Union are in fact unbeaten during that run; their longest unbeaten streak since 2011.
5) With the win the Union improves to 10-7-2 lifetime against NYCFC dating back to 2015.
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