James Sands rescues a point against Miami, but NYCFC's winless streak continues

On Saturday, New York City FC played a rare afternoon game against Inter Miami CF in a packed Yankee Stadium.  When Lionel Messi and the Herons travel, they tend to bring out more of the home team’s fans who do not always go to games, fans of Messi himself, and those who began to follow Miami due to the footballer legend.

For NYCFC and their fans, this match was still business as usual.  The Pigeons knew they had a tough game ahead of them since Miami is one of the best teams in Major League Soccer this season.  Then, the Bronx side has been struggling in league play, for they were winless in their last eight games entering Saturday.

Plus, the Philadelphia Union fixture on Wednesday was one the team wanted to forget.  They lost 5-1 at home, and this was despite the fact the Union was below the playoff line entering the game.  There have been quite a few embarrassing losses this season, but could the Boys in Blue come away with a win against the powerful Miami?

While the home team played decently well, they could not break the winless streak.  However, NYCFC managed to tie 1-1 with Inter Miami thanks to a late goal.

NYCFC’s winless streak continues but draws 1-1 with Miami

To the surprise of some, NYCFC had a decent start to the game.  They dominated the early possession, but as time went on Miami started to keep the ball more often for longer periods of time.  Alas, while possession can help, everyone knows that will not win matches. 

Both teams had a few decent chances in the first half, but the backlines, including NYCFC, did well to block, intercept, and recover the ball.  The best chance came from a free kick by Santiago Rodríguez in the 11th minute when he swept the ball to the bottom-right corner of the goal.  It hit the post and subsequently hit Drake Callender to force a corner kick.

The way NYCFC defended in the first half was promising.  At the same time, there was a lack of quality shots.  More importantly, the Pigeons needed to get more shots on target, for they had just one before halftime.

In the second half, the Bronx team had more attacking sequences and started to maintain more of the ball.  They had two chances in the first five minutes that likely would have been goals if they were on target.  Unfortunately, Keaton Parks and Alonso Martínez both sent the ball wide.

NYCFC did increase their shots but struggled to find the back of the net.  The defense was better compared to the Philadelphia game as well.  In fact, they were superb for most of the fixture.  However, Miami is full of stars like Messi and Jordi Alba, and these two helped the Herons get on the scoresheet in the 75th minute.  The Argentine found the space in which Alba had room to run toward the goal.  NYCFC’s defense could not defend against him, and the Spaniard found Leonardo Campana, who put his team ahead.

This woke the Herons up and they were more threatening throughout the rest of the match.  That is not to say the Pigeons did not play well, for they continued to try and find a goal.  They fought and fought, and an unlikely scorer arrived to earn a point.

NYCFC had a last-minute stoppage time corner kick, in which Rodríguez sent the ball into the box.  It fell to James Sands, who finally, after so many years, scored his first goal for the Pigeons.  A header into the back of the net rescued a point, and Sands’ celebration said it all.

However, the draw to Miami extends the winless streak to nine.  This is a frustrating period, especially since NYCFC should be playing better.  At least they earned a point, for one is better than none.

Nonetheless, the season still looks bleak as the end gets closer.  NYCFC has the Hudson River Derby next, and they will be without Rodríguez due to yellow card accumulation.  Can the Pigeons turn things around before the season is over and the playoffs begin?  Can they finally win again?