The cup competition returned with one of the best matches so far. The Hudson River Derby decided the semifinalist heading to the decisive stages of the tournament. With NYCFC still adjusting to the managerial change, it was another fixture to see how the team would perform. Derby matches bring an extra motivation, it’s about pride and balancing the power struggle for the winning team. With so much on the line, the last thing you expect is for outside factors to overshadow the game. One way or another, lessons must be learned moving forward.
Losing focus
The match itself didn’t begin as expected for the “Boys In Blue”. In comparison to the last two matches NYCFC couldnt establish dominance from the start. The Red Bulls took the initiative and made the game physical from the start. An obvious approach for the home team, but this is where things got interesting. The fouls started as soon as the 5th minute but the nature of the game implied that fouls shouldn’t be called so early to give the game continuity. I say this from a match referee perspective, calling the fouls too early can make the game slip out of your control. With this being said, it was expected for the referee to set the tone with strong warnings (yellow cards) for both teams. It would not only keep both teams in line, but it also helped the game flow with fewer fouls. Unfortunately, this concept was completely disregarded by the main official. NYCFC got a total of 3 yellow cards in 5 minutes, of those 3, two were key parts of NYCFC’s midfield (Keaton Parks and Santiago Rodriguez). Having main assets conditioned so early in the game, limited their involvement throughout the match. Especially knowing that any sort of contact was considered a yellow card when it came to NYCFC players. Despite this, NYCFC manage to find spaces in areas of the field, but for some reason, they were not able to capitalize on those chances. Although, it was enough to keep the game scoreless by halftime so changes were made.
My plan for the second half saw Talles Magno coming in for Gabriel Perreira and Maxi Moralez for Keaton Parks or Amundsen. NYCFC gained momentum towards the end of the first half and those moves intended to keep that dominance going. With the second half underway, it was just a matter of time to see the plan unfold. Unfortunately, things never go according to the plan, the Red Bulls would capitalize from a free-kick set piece in the 52nd minute. It’s difficult to see that what was once the team’s best strength is slowly becoming a weakness. Nevertheless, it was the second straight game where NYCFC had to come from behind. It took the goal to speed up the substitutions but the game was still within reach. It was perfect timing to make a statement and bring in the substitutions. But once again things would take a turn for the worst.
The 60th minute will mark the beginning of an unnecessary nightmare for the boys in blue. Thiago Andrade finished a play with a risky tackle against a Red Bull player. Tensions were already high and the home side knew that they were one push away from obtaining a numeric advantage. Something was said to Andrade when the pushing and shoving came to an end. As of now, only those involved will be the only ones that know what happened. But Thiago took a bad approach and lost concentration, attempting to headbutt a rival, all in front of the referee. The red card completely changed the game. Not only did the team have to sacrifice a position to cover the missing player, but it also destroyed the game plan from that point on. While Maxi and Talles did come on the field as planned, losing Santago Rodriguez took away offensive and creative power for NYCFC. The Red Bulls would capitalize and take advantage of the momentum in their favor, scoring in the 70th minute with Luquinhas. The 2-0 felt like the knockout blow that NYCFC was fighting to prevent, but having to deal with questionable calls and tactical disadvantages was difficult enough. They held their ground defensively, but the Red Bull sealed the nightmare with a third goal in the 89th minute.
A defeat that had Red colors for the wrong reasons, sees the Red Bulls advance in the U.S Open Cup. The MLS champions leave the competition with more questions than answers. “We have to keep our composure, we can’t lose a player in this kind of games. It’s a quarter-final. We’ll speak about it going forward. I didn’t see what happened honestly, saw the red card only”, said interim manager Nick Cushing after the match. It’s a difficult defeat with or without the red card, no team wants to lose a derby. But this is where the real test begins, can they turn the page and learn from the mistakes? Or is this the turning point for the remainder of the season?
NYCFC travels to Philadelphia to face the Union on Sunday for the regular season.