The spectators at PPL Park were treated to beautiful weather and exciting soccer this past Sunday. Unfortunately, for NYCFC fans the result left something to be desired.
Philadelphia Union managed to find the back of the net in stoppage time to secure a 2-1 victory over NYCFC.
The Union’s Sebastien Le Toux managed to beat a tackle and get a few clean touches in the penalty area before passing the ball across the mouth of the goal. Eric Ayuk received the pass and took the shot but it deflected off the Union’s Zach Pfeffer before crossing the goal line in the 27th minute. It appeared that an equalizer would come a minute later when Adam Nemec finished a pass from David Villa but the ball was ruled out of bounds prior to the pass. With the exception of a few solid plays it was another case of poor first half performance from NYCFC.
NYCFC came out fighting in the second half. The team was clearly pressing harder and more efficiently. Unlike the first half, the midfield controlled the possession and turned it into meaningful attacks. David Villa displayed another one of his fantastic back heels off a pass from Mix Diskerud to start a sequence of passes that ended with him scoring in the 55th minute. Khiry Shelton, Adam Nemec and Josh Willams all had beautiful one touch passes to set up Villa close to the goal.
A draw felt inevitable as the match was coming to a close. The Union’s Vincent Nogueira apparently missed the draw memo and scored off a Josh Saunders punched ball in the 92nd minute.
With a poor first half performance from NYCFC a win would have been great but a draw would have felt acceptable. A loss, given the teams first half struggles in the past matches feels pretty rough. Hopefully, the team can nip their first half blues in the bud before it becomes a recurring issue.
NYCFC will have a chance to avenge the loss this Thursday at 7pm when they face the Union again at home.
As always, go NYCFC and Hail The Rail!