NYCFC bested New England in penalties to advance in the Leagues Cup

On Friday, New York City FC took on the New England Revolution for the Round of 32 clash of the Leagues Cup. They had an obstacle to overcome after the team fumbled first place in the group with a disastrous 4-2 loss to FC Cincinnati On Monday. However, they knew that if they defeated New England, then they would face Tigres UANL in the next round. 

As expected, Matt Freese was back in goal after he was rested for the first two Leagues Cup matches. Nick Cushing went with the 4-2-3-1 formation, with the youngster Christian McFarlane at left-back yet again while Kevin O’Toole still awaits to return to full match form. Jovan Mijatović started as the striker again, while Maxi Moralez returned to the bench.

This was the first match officially without Talles Magno, who had agreed to a loan move to Sport Club Corinthians Paulista in Brazil. However, this is not a goodbye as he agreed to an MLS contract extension until 2027, which means he could return to the Big Apple in the future. Andrés Perea was still not available as he continued to recover from his injury.  

Did NYCFC make up for the Cincinnati debacle? The answer would be yes after an exciting win during a penalty shootout against New England.

NYCFC beat New England on Friday via penalty kicks

The first 30 minutes were quite even. Both teams had their own chance in front of the net early. New England had a slight advantage early as they kept most of the possession. Bobby Wood had scored a nice goal, however it was ruled offside by the linesman, which kept the match even at 0-0. 

It was not until a few minutes later that Santiago Rodríguez was fouled inside the box. A VAR decision awarded a penalty kick for NYCFC, which turned the half around. Calm and composed, Rodríguez scored the panenka penalty with ease for the 1-0 lead in the 35th minute.  

However, this would not stop New England from halting their attack as the pressure was still on for NYCFC. A cross from Brandon Bye landed right in the hands of Wood, who scored the first goal for the opposition. He was a player to watch prior to the match as the forward is at two goals with one assist in the Leagues Cup. He almost had a second goal but an overstep launched the ball into the stands to keep the game at 1-1. 

It was a close game on paper. However, New England had better chances in front of the net with the defense committing key errors in the 18-yard box. The attack started to come to life towards the end of the half, ending with six shots before the first-half whistle. 

The start of the second had already been chaos as Agustín Ojeda almost conceded a penalty kick with a handball in the box, but VAR came in the clutch again to rule against it.  

Since that scare, it was a standstill game. NYCFC’s threat in the attack diminished, and so did New England. Four minutes of extra time was still not enough to find a goal as the match headed into a penalty shootout.  

Just like the game in regulation, the penalty kick shootout could not have been closer as both teams made all five of their penalties. It took seven rounds until Mark-Antony Kaye hit the crossbar, which handed NYCFC an opportunity to advance. Justin Haak was the player to come out clutch, scoring the final penalty kick.

With this result, the Pigeons advance to the Round of 16, where they will face Tigres after they defeated C.F. Pachuca 1-0 on Thursday. They are expected to be the underdog as the competition is set to get more difficult for NYCFC.