3 things we learned from the awful NYCFC loss to last-place D.C. United | OneFootball

It was a beautiful Saturday evening in the Bronx when New York City FC and D.C. United battled it out in what was expected to be a dominant game for the home side.  The visitors had other ideas, scoring twice to beat the Boys in Blue 2-1.  This was another loss where NYCFC should have won on paper, and their third match to a last-place team, having lost twice to CF Montréal when they were in last place.

After the Leagues Cup, NYCFC had ten games to play in Major League Soccer, and ideally would not lose any of their home matches.  Sadly, despite Justin Haak scoring his first goal in the regular season in over two years, they could not secure three points or even one.  Gabriel Pirani’s brace for D.C. unraveled the home side and won three points for the already eliminated-from-playoff-contention D.C. United.

It shows that anything can happen in the beautiful game, and thankfully, the Boys in Blue had already won their first two of the ten matches.  Perhaps the road win against FC Cincinnati will counteract the terrible loss, but only time will tell.

In the end, this was a disappointing result.  Here are three things we learned from NYCFC’s 2-1 loss to D.C. United.

Maxi Moralez registered another assist

More importantly, the assist is reminding everyone that the midfielder can still be a contributing factor at 38.  It was thought he would need more time to rest compared to years past, but Moralez is proving that he can compete like some of the younger players and does need the amount of rest that was originally thought.

NYCFC is fortunate to have the midfielder on the roster.  Maybe he can keep up the solid work and register a few more assists before the regular season ends.

Pascal Jansen hurt NYCFC with late the subs

One aspect of the match that did not make sense was that Head Coach Pascal Jansen did not make any substitutions until after the winning goal was scored in the 77th minute.  While NYCFC was maintaining possession in the final third, they were not capitalizing on chances.  As such, changes should have been made earlier in the second half.

Instead, the first sub came on in the 77th minute, and only two changes were made.  Why was this the case?  It is clear that the decision to barely switch out the players hurt the Boys in Blue.  Of course, there is no guarantee the game would have gone a different way.  But one will never know.

Fresh legs can make a difference, though.  And one of the criticisms of the former head coach, Nick Cushing, was about the substitutions.  Jansen does not want to be compared to him in that way.  Plus, when one needs a goal, changes should be made earlier.  NYCFC needed an attacking change about 15 minutes prior, so it is very puzzling why Jansen did what he did.

The fourth loss at home for NYCFC

Usually, NYCFC does very well at home and barely loses.  But after D.C. United’s win, the Boys in Blue have lost their fourth home game of the MLS season.  It is interesting that they are struggling to pick up the three points like this.

Moreover, three of the four losses have come against teams that were below them in the standings in the Eastern Conference and overall. It would make sense if the losses came against other teams that are leading the league. But as it is known, NYCFC has had success against some of the top teams like FC Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Union, but has lost to teams like D.C. United.

Nevertheless, it is vital that the Pigeons turn their home matches into a fortress again. Even a draw or two would be better than the losses. NYCFC must ensure that they do not lose at home for the rest of the year.