NYCFC Stunned By Minnesota At Stadium

 

Minnesota (in black, at right) running back to midfield after their instant goal. Photo by Jason Schott.

New York City Football Club returned home on Sunday afternoon, but Minnesota United FC were a rude guest, as they scored a pair of goals early, and it held up in a 2-1 win.

This was NYCFC's second straight loss, and third game in a row where they don't take out points, and it leaved them with a record of 2-2-3, with eight points in seven games.

Minnesota scored in the second minute, actually just 1:01 into the match, on a fast-developing play that began at midfield. 

Joaquin Pereira sent a pass to Kelvin Yeboah, who completed the give-and-go by getting it back to Pereira, who was coming down the left side. Pereira then found Tani Oluwaseyi, who outpaced the NYCFC defender down the center of the field, and he buried it.

Then, in the 29th minute, Pereira took a free kick from the right side, and he elected to send a pass to  Will Trapp, and he fired in a shot that hugged the grass and deflected off the shin guards of NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese and into the net to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.

As the first half was winding down, NYCFC caught a massive break in the 48th minute. Alonso Martinez was taken down, as he headed to the right side, by Minnesota's Nicolas Romero.

The initial call was a penalty kick for Martinez, and after a rather lengthy review to see if Romero got the ball, which he did, but that did not outweigh that he took Martinez's legs out from under him.

Martinez took the penalty kick, but he fired it off the crossbar.

Alonso Martinez's penalty kick ricochets back into play off the crossbar. Photo by Jason Schott.

The game remained 2-0 Minnesota at halftime, and throughout the final 45 minutes.

It wasn't until the 89th minute that NYCFC broke through when Martinez fired one, and Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair kicked it back, ending up on the feet of Keaton Parks on the left side of the box, and he buried it to cut it to 2-1.

NYCFC kept the pressure on, and in the 93rd minute, Strahinja Tanasijevic fired a shot in from the right side that went wide left of the net on what was essentially the last play of the game, as there were three minutes of extra time.

Even though he took the loss, NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese recorded seven saves to become the all-time series leader in saves against Minnesota.

NYCFC recorded 19 shots, including four on goal, while Minnesota had 16 overall, with nine on target.

COACH'S COMMENTS: NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen addressed the media after the game:

Thoughts on today’s match against Minnesota United FC: “That's a good question...If you look at the results coming into this season, we did okay. Performances always bring along new lessons and new questions in the development of a team. What we have to get under control is what I told my guys just now: you can never start a match like we did today. It's impossible. With the level of intensity and aggression in this match, if you see the first few moments going into the game, protection of the ball is a massive aspect in the development of our team. We have good players, but we have to realize when we need to protect and keep possession — and we got punished for it today within a few minutes. 

"So, it has to do with time, obviously—young players need time. But on the other hand, we need to perform. There will be a moment in time when we say, ‘okay, yeah, we tried our best,’ but it's not enough. That moment is not here—not by a long mile. So, I'm not worried about that. But that is a huge aspect of our game we need to improve.” 

On how the team responded in the second half: “As I said to you guys just now, it was something that we anticipated. It's part of their strategy... The speed of play has to be in our rhythm, and that’s what I get back to—the protection of the ball. It's a huge part of that. You have to keep them moving so the spaces will open. They have to invest way more in running from side to side and in finding those open opportunities. 

"You see, when Agustín Ojeda comes on on the left side, this kid just took him on 1v1 and he creates a lot of danger, and that was lacking in our play. You have the opportunity with Hannes [Wolf], of course. So, we had a few moments that we could have gotten back into the game with the new strategy, but that’s something that was lacking today.”