Concerns for the state of the season were ramped up against as NYCFC has now lost their fifth match in six games, falling to D.C. United 2-1, the worst team in MLS.
After being re-routed to Red Bull Arena due to a rescheduled Bad Bunny concert at Yankee Stadium the Boys in Blue struggled to get going and once again fell behind, this time in the 24th minute as Ola Kamara scored his 9 goal of the season on a right footed shot from up close. However an Heber goal from a Malte Amundsen pass three minutes later knotted the game at one in front on the mid week RBA crowd of about 8,000. However despite going into halftime tied at one, the team fell behind at the 57th minute as a Steven Birnbaum header to the lower left corner of the net notched his 15th of the season, the final goal of the night as New York logged onto 3 shots on goal to DC’s 5.
Concerns abound for the team as the season is nearing a close and the team is in the middle of not only a 7 match in 21 day stretch, but greatly affected by the injury bug as well; made worse as Anton Tinnerholm may have re-aggravated his hamstring, forcing him to come off. Coach Nick Cushing admitted there’s a challenge, but that it’s their responsibility to rise up.
“I think that ultimately we’re in a difficult period and that we have no consistency in our team selection because of injuries and because of those moments that we’re in,” Coach Cushing said. “We don’t have so many moments to train with a new back four and with interchanging players all the time, and that’s bringing us challenges. We have to stay together in these moments and we have to continue to try and find ways to build that cohesion.”
With the loss, NYCFC drops to 4th in the East, now just 3 points ahead of Orlando. Next up for the club is a road trip to New England for a match against the Revs Sunday night. The Revolution have been mired in a small slump of their own, having gone 2-3-4 since losing to NYCFC on July 9 as they remain one point out of the last playoff spot.
3 Notes
1) NYCFC will be reunited with former player Ismael Tajouri-Shradi who was traded from LAFC to New England on August 5. This season is he has two goals in six games however has yet to log any minutes with his new club. The last time the two teams last met on July 9 at Yankee Stadium in a 4-2 NY win.
2) In the last three matches New England has logged just one goal, going 0-2-1 and being outscored 6-1.
3) Héber’s goal tonight was his 7th of the year, which is team high for players still on the roster. Talles Magno and Gabriel Pereira is second with 6. Santiago Rodriguez is the runaway leader in assists with 12.
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