NYCFC heartbreakingly falls late to New England as the rough times continue

On Wednesday, New York City FC was without Head Coach Pascal Jansen as the Queens side welcomed the New England Revolution to Queens. As such, Mehdi Ballouchy took charge of the team in an attempt to lead the Pigeons to the promised land. Or, in this case, end the winless streak.

Sadly, that did not happen. NYCFC fell 2-1 after New England scored a late goal to steal all three points.

Unquestionably, the need to win was immense. Including Wednesday’s game, there were 11 fixtures left in the regular season. The Pigeons cannot continue down the road of draws and losses. As it has been stressed, the roster is stronger, even with the injuries, than what the results show.

At least the good news is that NYCFC is slowly getting back their players who are not out for the season. In fact, Aiden O’Neill started the match, which was good to see.

NYCFC cannot escape the winless streak

What was not good to see was that the Revolution earned a penalty kick early in the match. A handball in the box by O’Neill again saw Carles Gil step up in front of Matt Freese like the last meeting. This time, the NYCFC goalkeeper could not stop the ball, as the Spaniard sent him the other way to go in front in the 12th minute.

The Queens team decided early on that they were not going to be run over in their own stadium. The players controlled possession and had more chances during the first 45 minutes of play. The issue at hand, though, was the lack of the clinical touch in front of the goal.

Bénie Traoré was the best example. Yes, he did find the back of the net, but it was called back since he was offside. Otherwise, his shots were lackluster or went wide. He had some unique footwork to help his movement on the pitch. However, his attacking production, which was the reason for signing him, left a lot to be desired.

In fact, right-back Mitja Ilenič was better in the final third than the forward. He had a golazo chance in the first half that went just above the goal. Then, early in the second half, he had a powerful strike that went right into the arms of Matt Turner.

But NYCFC knew that New England tended to play well in the second half. Not scoring when they had the advantage meant that the Pigeons could be in trouble. And that feeling was there when the visitors spent too much time near Freese at the beginning of the second half.

Thankfully, the home side found their rhythm again and mostly controlled the ball. It took time, but eventually, the Boys in Blue tied the match in the 71st minute.

Nicolás Fernández Mercau fought to hold onto the ball near the end line. His fancy footwork enabled him to get closer to the goal and pick up Luighi. The young striker put himself in a position in front of Turner, and the Argentine swept the ball towards him. With ease, Luighi stepped up and tapped the ball into the back of the net.

There was something in the air after that. Both teams wanted to score their second, and arguably the Pigeons were clawing tooth and nail to earn three points. They were even saved by an offside call on a Revolution goal when Freese and Thiago Martins made a drastic mistake that allowed Dániel Gazdag to score. VAR quickly overturned the goal to keep the dream alive.

Alas, in the dying minutes, the urgency died down. Silly passes and the inability to capitalize on the chances they were given kept NYCFC from scoring that second goal. And in stoppage time, New England stole the game after Gazdag officially scored his goal. This time, there was no question that it was a clean goal, as it rolled beyond defenders to win the game for his team.

Losing is never fun. Losing during a winless streak, which NYCFC tied their seven-game winless streak in MLS from earlier this season, is even worse. At this point, there really are no words to describe what is going on. The Boys in Blue are better than these results. But something must give.

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