Philadelphia defeated New York City in the earliest game ever played in Major League Soccer. Alejandro Bedoya’s goal just after the hour mark proved to be the difference maker in a game that looked a bit rusty and tired from both teams.
It is hard to say if it was the early start, the weather or the months off that afflicted both teams in the first half but for most of it both New York and Philadelphia look out of sync. In fact, the best part of the first half was the powerful statements by both teams in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. NYCFC had warm up kits with the BLM slogan on them and Philadelphia changed the names on the backs of their jerseys to those victims of police violence. It was a powerful statement. As far as the soccer goes, neither side really was able to create a good chance on goal until after the interval and then one chance was all it took for The Union to capitalize.
NYCFC put a strong line up on the pitch with the notable exception of Alexandru Mitrita, who had picked up a knock in training. Chances were missed across the board Heber had a couple of shots saved by Andre Blake. Gary Mackay-Steven found him self open on a couple of different occasions in the waning minutes but was unable to come up with the equalizer. Coming into the match, spirits were high among fans and the team, but NYCFC again was left scoreless with a loss in a game they should have won by all accounts.
“It is frustrating. I think today we had quite a bit more chances than the opponent and we don’t score and they get the chance and put it in. We are not effective enough in what we’re doing. So it’s a little bit sad for the hard work the players and everybody had put in that we didn’t get any points today. There are a lot of good things to take from the performance. We were much more disciplined as a team, we defend good…we created four or five big chances. We just need to be better to create more and also put the ball in the net–that’s quite important in football.” said head coach, Ronny Deila after the game and indeed, he is right. NYCFC is scoreless in their last five competitions and have yet to score in MLS this season. The loss today makes the next game against Orlando a must win for the team if they want to control their destiny in the group stage.
“You know in tournaments like this you want a point from the first one. We didn’t get it. It’s important how we continue like this and the next game is going to be crucial for us.” said defender, Anton Tinnerholm. “In the second half we created a lot of chances. We had three, four, five big chances and they had a half of a chance and they scored. That’s how it is, you know. Sometimes you don’t score the goals and it’s impossible to win the games. If you look at the game we played and how we want to play, how we talked about it before the game, it’s how we wanted…we made a pretty decent game, but it’s very, very, disappointing to sit here with zero points to start with.”
It was a disappointing day to be sure for NYCFC and a statement win for Philadelphia. Both teams can look onward to their next games and prepare. NYCFC must figure out how to get the ball into the back of the net again, and who knows, in a tournament that has already seen two teams drop out due to the pandemic and Chicago get shifted into group B anything can happen.
New York City Football Club
