New York City FC’s (NYCFC) stop-start season continued with a 2-1 loss to bottom-of-the-Eastern-Conference D.C. United on Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.
The Black and Reds ended NYCFC’s five-match unbeaten streak, beginning with the 2-1 away win against Orlando in mid-July. New York has struggled against sides lower than them in the league this season, only winning six of the 15 played.
Luckily for City, it stays in eighth place in the Eastern Conference by four points — one spot outside of automatic qualification — after the ninth-place Red Bulls drew 0-0 with Columbus.
“My final comment just now in the dressing room was that we played Montréal twice when they were bottom of the table,” head coach Pascal Jansen told the media after the match. “Today, DC is bottom table, finished for the playoffs already, so we’re just playing to finish the league. We only got one point out of those three games. In all three games, there is something that’s alike — we had a lot of possession, but we got punished for small errors.”
Justin Haak scored a slick finish to give the Boys in Blue the lead in the 19th minute, completing a brilliant team move. The Brooklyn native started the attack by bringing the ball up the pitch from defense.
After some quick one-touch play with Alonso Martínez, then Maxi Moralez, Haak slotted the ball first-time into the far corner for his first goal of the season. The defender has not scored since 2023.
D.C. United pulled one back right before the stroke of half-time from a Gabriel Pirani strike just outside the NYCFC penalty box. Aaron Herrera’s long throws had been causing the Boys in Blue problems all night, and this time, Martínez had just missed the clearance from Christian Benteke’s first contact.
It allowed Pirani time to stop the ball dead and line up his well-placed curler from 18 yards out in the 43rd minute.
The Brazilian put the Eagles ahead in the 77th minute, latching onto a brilliant through-ball from Benteke.
NYCFC lost the ball in midfield, and the rebound fell kindly to the former Belgian international. His quality showed, turning to slip in Pirani in one swift move. All Pirani had to do was keep his composure and slot the ball past Matthew Freese, which he did for his second of the match.
The go-ahead goal silenced the 20,000-strong crowd in Yankee Stadium as City were left frustrated for the rest of the match. A final chance to equalize in the 90+4th minute saw Freese join the attack in the opposition box for two set-pieces, but deliveries from substitute Julian Fernandez left the Boys in Blue wanting. Neither opportunity got past the first D.C. United defender as NYCFC lost their fourth match at home.
The equalizer highlighted City’s continued vulnerabilities at the back from set-pieces. It was not the first time the Boys in Blue failed to clear a D.C. United chance, and they were made to pay.
However, it underscores the Pigeons’ dominant display in the first 45 minutes, where they kept hold of the ball for two-thirds of it. Hannes Wolf forced Luis Barraza into action early in the eighth minute, when City worked the ball from the right to the left wing with some quick interchanges.
The second goal NYCFC conceded by “forcing ourselves to go forward,” according to Jansen, after the match.
“The pass [Martínez] is looking for is too big a distance to begin with, but we get the second ball,” Jansen said. “[Fernández Mercau] gets the ball without the pressure there, so he should do better with that moment. Unfortunately, we lost it down the middle again, and in this specific moment, you see that we’re not squeezed in enough, which allows Benteke to turn and play the final pass.
“That is a perfect example of a team that relies on all those bodies below the ball and trying to exploit the moments when you give those spaces away,” Jansen continued. “And for the majority of the time, we were in control of the calendar attacks. But this one, we didn’t look good enough.”
New signing Raul Gustavo did not come off the bench to make his debut after signing from Hungarian side Ferencvárosi TC two weeks ago. The Brazilian defender just had his visa approved, but NYCFC spent most of the second half chasing the match.
NYCFC returns to action against the Chicago Fire after the international break on Sept. 13th. They face another team lower in the standings than them.
