NYCFC falls late to Seattle, drops to 5th seed for MLS playoffs

New York City FC (NYCFC) failed to seize an opportunity against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night to finish in the top four on the MLS Eastern Conference at Citi Field. The Boys in Blue fell 2-1 to a late Jackson Ragen header.

Ragen rose above the melee in the penalty box in the 87th minute to head home the winner for the Sounders. After conceding a sixth corner, NYCFC’s defenders could not mark Ragen tightly enough, allowing the center back to rise above everyone else and meet the out-swining corner from Danny Leyva.

“It’s probably the tallest guy on the pitch in a physical duel with the shortest guy on the pitch, and he lost it,” head coach Pascal Jansen told amNew York after the match. “For us, the way we played today and getting a draw, that would be the max for today, I think.”

The result puts NYCFC in fifth, following Charlotte’s 2-0 win against the Philadelphia Union and Nashville SC’s 5-2 loss to Inter Miami, featuring a Lionel Messi hat-trick to all but secure the MLS Golden Boot. Charlotte and Nashville sandwiched City before the day started, and the loss means NYCFC’s Round 1 best-of-three opponent in the playoffs will be Charlotte, and only Game 2 will be played in New York.

Jordan Morris put the Sounders up early in the second half from another set-piece, but Nicolás Fernández Mercau scored his third City goal to equalize in the 82nd minute.

Seattle’s cancelled penalty in the 27th minute was the highlight of an evenly-matched first half. Referee Chris Penso initially thought Thiago Martins had tripped up Morris in the penalty box.

A good Seattle move got Morris within shooting distance, but Geoff Gamble, in charge of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) tonight, called Penso to the screen to review a handball leading up to the foul, and the foul itself. A long two minutes inside Citi Field later, Penso announced no handball nor foul was committed, saving Martins’ blushes.

The Sounders showed they could respond to adversity with the attacking move as their star playmaker, Pedro de la Vega, was stretchered off not five minutes before.

Maxi Moralez took a heavy touch on the right side of midfield in the 17th minute, allowing de la Vega to snip in and attempt to win the ball. Moralez tried to slide it right to Tayvon Gray, but the 24-year-old Argentine managed to stretch a leg out and attempt a roulette around Gray.

The right-back’s trailing leg caught de la Vega, and he went down holding his right knee and in a lot of pain. It took five minutes for the medical staff to assess the situation and end his match — and possibly season — all whilst the travelling Sounders contingent sang his name from the stands.

Frustration had set in for NYCFC by the time the board went up to show seven minutes of added time at the end of the first period. Kevin O’Toole, Justin Haak and Matthew Freese were booked for needless infringements within added time— particularly the latter, where Freese had gone up to Penso to discuss a decision.

Tensions might have heightened inside the dressing room as well, as Charlotte were up 2-0 against the Philadelphia Union within the first 45 minutes. Nashville SC, the team in sixth at the start of the night, had also overtaken the Boys in Blue in the standings at the half with a 2-1 lead over Inter Miami.

However, it seemed to drive New York forward, as they started hot off the presses, finding their fourth corner — NYCFC’s first of the half — three minutes in after some lovely improvised play between Hannes Wolf and Alonso Martínez.

But the Sounders found a moment of sustained pressure inside the NYCFC half on the hour mark, shifting the ball from left to right like a pendulum when they couldn’t find an opening down the flanks.

It resulted in Paul Rothrock, who had come in for de la Vega in the first half, being fouled outside of the box on the left wing by Moralez.

Albert Rusnák swung in the free-kick and Morris nodded in the opener, beating O’Toole to the ball and glancing it towards Freese’s far corner. The forward held his ear and ran towards the NYCFC fan section in celebration.

New York found their equalizer with eight minutes left in the match, as Fernández Mercau’s shot slid under Nouhou and past an already stumbling Stefan Frei. Maximo Carrizo, the 17-year-old academy talent who made five first-team appearances prior, found a disguised pass to Fernandez, and the two Argentines linked up at the edge of the box.

However, another set-piece undid all of City’s hard work to get themselves back in the game. There were four NYCFC shirts around Ragen as the corner was swung in, but none rose with the center-back to compete for the ball.

The City players stood around staring at the Jumbotron, which showed their confirmed fifth position in the East at the end of the match. Many had their heads down and hands on their hips.