NYCFC Pounded By Puebla In Leagues Cup Opener

NYCFC's Seymour Reid looks to gain position against a Puebla player. Provided by NYCFC.

New York City Football Club lost the opening game of the Leagues Cup, as they were shutout by Mexican side Club Puebla, 3-0, on Tuesday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium. 

Juan Fedorco gave Puebla a very early lead, as he scored in the second minute on a shot from the center of the box that found the left corner of the net. Ricardo Marin got an assist.

Then, in the 38th minute, Emiliano Gomez, off a feed from Alejandro Organista, buried one to the middle-left zone of the net to make it 2-0 Club Puebla.

It stayed that way until the 88th when Gomez fed Owen Gonzalez, who fired a low shot from the center of the box to give them a three-goal edge and seal the win.

Puebla goalkeeper Jesus Rodriguez earned the clean sheet with five saves, as NYCFC had four shots on goal, and 17 overall.

NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen said of the game, "The takeaways from this game are quite obvious. How we started today's game didn't help. You're chasing the game from the start. They punished us for two defensive errors, and we kept on chasing the game. The second half was more competitive. That is something we have to take with us going into game number two (on Friday night vs. Leon at 6 PM at SI Stadium), making sure that we stay competitive throughout the game and don't start games like we did today."

Jansen also addressed what he saw defensively without Thaigo Martins, "I addressed it just now when we finished up in the dressing room. It can never be about one player. However, Thiago is a good player a big personality. He takes care of the defense, makes other players feel comfortable, and that comfort is not there at the moment. I just mentioned it to my guys also, conceding 10 goals in the last five games is not us. We've been very consistent in several areas, and one of those areas is also the part without the ball. Today is not specifically about Thiago. Nico Cavallo was struggling in the first half, the player he had against him was better than he was, and he tried his best. They punished us for two moments in the first half. We were very competitive in the second half, but it wasn't good enough."