A stronger second half allows NYCFC to steal a point from Nashville SC | OneFootball

New York City FC was coming off a horrible home loss to Houston Dynamo FC when they had to head out on the road to their next match. The Pigeons traveled to Tennessee to take on Nashville SC.  Despite a poor first half, the visitors scored twice in the second to draw 2-2 away from home.

While the international break is coming up and the Boys in Blue only have a couple of games in June, Pascal Jansen only made one change for Nashville.  Agustín Ojeda started over Julián Fernández, which was a little surprising.  It was not about the player choice, but rather there was a lack of rotation for the team, who played three games from Sunday through Saturday.

There was also hope that Keaton Parks would be able to play more.  The midfielder has been available but missed some time due to a foot injury.  He did come on at halftime, which shows he is getting closer to being able to start. Arguably, he made a difference in the second half, for the Pigeons were stronger in the second set of 45 minutes.

When all is said and done, it was a game with two halves played.  NYCFC was poor in the first and much better in the second.  This time, the changes made helped, and the team from Queens stole a point from Music City.

NYCFC has a comeback draw in Nashville

The lack of rotation appeared to influence NYCFC in the first half, for Nashville was the stronger team from the opening whistle.  They controlled the pace of play for most of the first part of the match.  They were more put together when they had the ball and more threatening.

NYCFC was quite lackluster in a bit of their play.  Some players were just there on the pitch, and truthfully, could not figure things out.  The defensive errors will probably be blamed on mental lapses, as they should.  Moreover, it was amazing that the home side did not score earlier since the defense was shaky.

Eventually, Nashville struck first with an easy goal for Sam Surridge in the 27th minute.  Hany Mukhtar was in front and passed the ball back to him, for the Englishman had some room.  With one kick, the Music City team was in front.  It was a solid offensive effort, and truthfully, it is hard to tell whether the Pigeons could have stopped the goal.

Surridge then scored the second in the 41st minute.  This time, the NYCFC defense completely broke down in the box.  As a result, the striker swept the ball between two defenders and past a reaching Matt Freese.

Meanwhile, similar to a few of the past games, Jansen made an intriguing substitution.  This time, he took off Tayvon Gray at halftime and put on Strahinja Tanasijević.  This was a nerve-wrecking moment since the center-back has been liable in the backline in the past.  It was not shocking that he received a yellow card later on.  Yet, the backline did not give up another goal.

As mentioned earlier, Parks also came on at halftime, and he made a big difference.  In fact, the Pigeons made sure they were not shut out and scored.  Hannes Wolf, who can be criticized for some of his inconsistency with his distribution, found the back of the net in the 54th minute.

It was a good one, though, for NYCFC’s midfielders had accurate passing in the box.  More importantly, the awareness of Maxi Moralez, who was not playing his best game, to let Wolf take the shot when he could have, worked in the team’s favor.  The winger had a better angle against Nashville’s goalkeeper, Joe Willis, compared to the Argentine.

As a whole, NYCFC was better in the attack and created more chances, including Birk Risa’s 66th-minute strike.  He took a free kick, and the ball hit the top of the goal.  If the ball had been slightly below, then he would have scored.

The changes made also added a spark to the team.  The Boys in Blue had more energy and increased the offensive chances.  And by the grace of the football gods, NYCFC tied the game in the 87th minute.  A little luck helped them since it was a scrappy goal.  Parks headed the ball into the ground, and Wolf’s odd kick somehow led the ball into the goal.

The second half was much better, and leaving with a point is better than none.  Truth be told, it felt like NYCFC was going to have another poor game on the road.  While they are still chasing that second road win, the draw with Nashville is one of those rare draws that feels like a win.

After a crazy May, it is time for those who will not head out on international duty to get a few days off.  Rest will be good for the team, especially veterans like Moralez.  It was not ideal to end the three-game week with only four points, but Jansen will ideally use June to get his team back on track.  NYCFC is capable of competing; they just have to be consistent.