NYCFC sees another loss to FC Cincinnati on Saturday

After grabbing their first win of the season last week, New York City FC was back on the road with a showdown in Ohio with a matchup against reigning MVP Luciano Acosta’s FC Cincinnati. After a dominating victory against Toronto FC, the Boys in Blue were hungry for their second win in a row, while also looking to climb up the standings in the East. 

With Nick Cushing still in the hot seat and the news of former coach Ronny Deila leaving his post with Club Brugge KV, the pressure remains on the Englishman to continue to lead the side in the right direction. Plus, with his track record of poor away results, fans were already not expecting much to come out of the team at TQL Stadium.  

Heading into the match, Cincinnati sat in fourth place with two wins, a loss, and a draw. As for the Bronx side, they only had one win with three losses, keeping them in 12th place.  

NYCFC struggled to score again, resulting in a 1-0 loss in what was another tough match to watch.  

NYCFC ends with a 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati

With a few players out on international duty, the lineup was different than usual, with a 3-4-3 formation. As Keaton Parks served a suspension, both Andrés Perea and James Sands played in the midfield, with Santiago Rodríguez shifting to a false nine. Strahinja Tanasijević got his first start at center-back. 

NYCFC started by not keeping as much possession as they are used to, with just 45.2 percent possession after the first half, while only getting two shots off. They did do a good job of keeping Cincinnati off the scoresheet in the first 45 minutes, shutting down Aaron Boupendza and Acosta at any given chance. 

Just minutes after the start of the second half, Rodríguez almost put NYCFC on the board with a diving header from a cross by Julián Fernández. However, he was shut down by Roman Celentano to keep the score level.  

Unfortunately, Birk Risa was taken off in the 52nd minute for Justin Haak with a suspected hamstring injury. He finished the match at center-back, alongside both Thiago Martins and Tanasijević 

This turned out to be a crucial loss as Haak failed to mark Acosta, leaving him space to score his first goal of the season. This was enough to hand them their fourth loss as their early-season struggles continued.

Things got even worse as Tanasijević was given a foul in the box for a handball, resulting in a penalty. However, NYCFC dodged a huge bullet as a VAR overturned the call, resulting in no penalty for Cincinnati. 

Not being without key players played a factor in the loss, with Mounsef Bakrar out with the Algerian national team, leaving the side one player down in the attack. What is even worse for the Pigeons is they will make a trip to Inter Miami CF next week, with a chance to face Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez for the first time this season. 

This is time for panic, especially if NYCFC does not get a good result against Miami. Cushing’s seat is hotter than ever after a 1-4-0 record during the first month of the season, with one of the worst records in the league. His future with the club remains in jeopardy as fans grow angrier and angrier with his tactics after the first five games of the year.