Five Points: Not Our Night

September 1, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – New York City FC News Release

New York City fell to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of D.C. United on Wednesday.

Here are Five Points from a frustrating night…

Team Spirit

Speaking after the game, Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing said he could not fault his players’ spirit as the Boys in Blue pressed hard for an equalizer.

Had it not been from a superb fingertip save from David Ochoa in stoppage time, the home side would have found one through substitute Gedion Zelalem.

Sadly, it was not to be – D.C. produced a solid performance belying of their league position to hang on for the win – but as Cushing said, it was not for the want of trying.

While he admitted the squad were naturally disappointed in the locker room, he revealed that there was also a real hunger and desire burning from a group of players who are desperate to pull themselves out of this difficult patch – evident with the way they responded to falling behind, leveling after just three minutes.

Injury List

With games coming thick and fast and several key men missing, it has been impossible to field a consistent starting XI over the past few weeks.

Players have been called upon to play out of position in unfamiliar roles and with the heavy travel, there has been limited time on the training pitch too.

Though Cushing insists the injury list is not an excuse, highlighting that the quality throughout the roster is good enough to win any game, those factors do play a part – consistency leads to better relationships and understanding between players, which is hard to build with ever-changing line-ups and the fatigue that comes naturally with players clocking a lot of minutes over a short period.

Anton Forced Off

Given the squad’s injury situation, the last thing the team needed was another player on the treatment table.

Unfortunately, defender Anton Tinnerholm was forced off in the first half with a hamstring injury – the severity of which is yet unknown.

The Swede had just started to build a run of games, having endured a challenging period on the sidelines with Achilles and ankle injuries, and Cushing admitted the latest setback had possibly been caused by the amount of gametime he has had upon his return.

Hopefully, it won’t be a lengthy lay-off.

New Man

One key positive was the debut of new recruit Matías Pellegrini.

The Argentine was introduced for the final 15 minutes and looked lively and eager to make an impact in the final third.

The Midfielder was a…