A late goal by LAFC causes NYCFC to lose 1-0 on the road | OneFootball

On Saturday night, New York City FC continued their rough road trip to start the season when they traveled to California.  After the 2-2 draw with Inter Miami CF, the Pigeons had to battle it out with Western Conference powerhouse Los Angeles FC.

Fans knew this would be a difficult match.  As such, it was interesting that Pascal Jansen started Mounsef Bakrar, who struggled to score in 2024, and Strahinja Tanasijević, who proved he was a liability in last week’s match.  Understandably, Thiago Martins is not fit to start since he missed most of the preseason.  One would have thought that maybe Justin Haak or even a young center-back would have been given the chance.

At the same time, fans did get a glimpse of Bakrar and Alonso Martínez, who signed a contract extension on Friday, during the preseason.  They worked well together in the San Diego FC game.  Perhaps that was what Jansen was banking on.  Plus, Martínez still started as the striker.

In the end, a late goal was the team’s undoing.  NYCFC fell 1-0 to LAFC, failing to be an attacking threat in California.  They might have outshot the Black and Gold 11 to eight, but ultimately, the experience and strength of the home side led to the win.

NYCFC’s loss to LAFC was a lackluster performance

The game did not start off great for NYCFC, for Tayvon Gray had to exit the match in the 8th minute.  The right-back missed last week due to injury, so it is easy to question whether Jansen should have started him.  He was clearly in there due to his defense, but alas, Mitja Ilenič had to come into the match.

The first half saw some promising play, but ultimately it was lackluster for the Pigeons.  They slightly dominated the possession, mostly at the bookends of the first 45 minutes.  But the offense struggled to create chances on goal.  The best opportunity came in the 9th minute from Martínez.  Still, that final pass and shot were missing.

In addition, LAFC might have looked more threatening, but NYCFC’s backline did well to block passes and shots.  They also cleaned up one another’s mistakes, which Tanasijević surprisingly had to do for Birk Risa a few times.  The more reliable defender appeared to be lost in the backline.

In the second half, LAFC came out of the locker room with more energy, finally forcing Matt Freese to make his first save of the night in the 48th minute.  Yet, NYCFC had a few more attacking opportunities in front of the goal despite missing the finishing shots to threaten Hugo Lloris.

For the most part, the match continued progress in a similar manner until Maxi Moralez came out around the 60th minute.  NYCFC’s possession initially dropped and they lost the midfielder’s creativity.  Andrés Perea, who came on for the Argentine, has his strengths but lacks in the ability to pick out players like Moralez.

As the substitutions continued, it felt like LAFC’s were stronger choices.  Still, the Bronx team had some chances, but the loss of Moralez was felt.

Freese also had to work more to protect his team.  He did make a mistake in the 80th where he gave the ball away.  Thankfully, he redeemed himself by making the save toward the edge of the box against Olivier Giroud, covering himself over the ball.

Of course, that did not matter in the end, for LAFC scored their goal on a counter attack.  Denis Bouanga sent the ball toward Giroud, who allowed the ball to fall.  The NYCFC defenders attempted to clear and were misdirected to go to the other side of the goal.  This created room for Ryan Hollingshead, who put his team ahead 1-0 in the 86th minute.

Some might argue that the Pigeons fell for the trickery, but really, they had a messy moment that the home side took advantage of.  They should have done better.  It is plain and simple.

In the end, the result made sense.  The Boys in Blue struggled to be threatening regardless of the attacking opportunity chances.  At the same time, one can argue that Pascal Jansen was outcoached in the second half.  One cannot forget the road woes either.  The struggles away from home keep creeping up like a ghost that will not go away.

At least NYCFC will be home next weekend for the home opener.  That will be a must-win for the team.  The Pigeons must be stronger in the final third and close out games defensively. They cannot be lackluster by any means.