The Nick Cushing era of the New York City Football Club both showed signs of trouble and signs of hope as the team quickly fell behind 3-0 to Cincinnati FC only to take the lead then lose it in a 4-4 tie on the road at TQL Stadium. During a stretch of 5 matches in 15 days it took 30 minutes for NYCFC to give up a goal to Luciano Acosta followed by 2 more by Brenner and a prompt three nothing deficit. However in a shocking comeback the Gents In Blue pulled to a 3-3 tie by halftime, first from Talles Magno at the 45 minute mark with a right foot shot of a corner followed by two by Heber in the 7 minutes that followed, first with a left foot to the left side of the net and a header off a Maxi Moralez free kick, turning a once rocking Cincinnati crowd into dead silence.
The second half saw less scoring but still maintained solid energy. First at the 52nd minute Midfielder Gabriel Pereira took it on himself straight up the middle of the pitch followed by a left footed shot to the top left corner for the team’s first lead of the night at 4-3. The lead would hold until the 70th minute when Brenner completed his own hat trick with a left footed shot just outside the 18 past goalkeeper Sean Johnson to knot the game at 4, a score that would hold to up to the end, despite several chances for Cincinnati, including an overturned goal for offsides at the 88th minute.
Next up for NYCFC, they’re back home on Sunday against 11th place Atlanta, followed by a much needed break before facing New England.
5 Notes:
1) After the match, NYCFC head coach Nick Cushing shared a light moment with Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan ‘The one thing that I said to Noonan was, “If you bought a ticket to this game, you got your value twice over today”.’ 100% accurate, although as a coach you might need to keep Mylanta handy.
2) Cincinnati is much improved over last season. After 3 straight seasons in last place in the East they now sit at 6th place at 7-7-3.
3) The offensive output by NYCFC was badly needed. Since taking over as head coach Nick Cushing’s squad had only mustered 2 goals in 3 matches (including their US Open loss against RBNY)
4) With his 2 goals, this is the third time in his career that Heber has picked up a pair in a match. Ironically his other two matches with 2 goals was also against Cincinnati, both back in 2019.
5) As mentioned, this weekend against Atlanta is the end of a rough 5 matches in a 15 day stretch. Atlanta currently sits in 11th place but have struggled on the road this season, going 1-5-1. The teams head to head dating back to 2017 are split at 4-4-3 however New York is unbeaten in the past 4 (3-0-1), including last year’s first round playoff match that ended in a 2-0 win for the Cityzens.
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