Credit: Ernesto Diaz – Stream Punk Sports
The New York City Football Club pulled out their third straight draw as Gabe Segal scored in added time to give the club a 1-1 draw against visiting Columbus. With the team winless in nearly 2 months it’s been more than a challenging time for the Gents from the Bronx. However in a weird twist, the team’s third straight tie feels like an improvement after going 0-6-1 in it’s previous 7 (including the US Open match against Cincinnati). However, head coach Nick Cushing was still unhappy: “It doesn’t feel like a win because it’s a draw at home. We are used to, in past years, being strong at home. And the aim for us and the desire is to be that team. We are on the right path, I believe. The performance is enough to win, but there are elements we have to improve.”
The team controlled much of the play, including two stellar opportunities late in the first half, first by Gabriel Pereira followed shortly afterwards by Talles Magno, but both shots went wide and staying scoreless going into the half. To start the second half, Columbus forward Christian Ramirez scored just 3 minutes into the second half on a right footed shot, utterly deflating both the crowd of over 30,000 and the team as a whole. However in the 73rd minute Segal replaced Magno, and got his chance, scoring his second MLS goal a full 4 minutes into a 6 minute added time. “We put Gabe [Segal] in because he is more of a number nine who will play in between the posts, but he’s inexperienced. He’s a rookie that works incredibly hard. We know that he’s going to get one chance in the game, he nearly got two. And for us it’s about, while he’s in this development area of his game, whether he takes that chance. So for us it was a no-brainer to put him in because we know, like I said, that he’s going to get that chance.”
With the draw, for the moment NYCFC pulls into 11th place in the East, 3 points behind 9th place Montreal for a play-in playoff spot. The Club begins a 3 game road trip that takes them first to Atlanta to face the United, a team that’s currently sitting in 6th place and pulling a 6-1-2 record at home this season.
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4 NOTES:
1) This team is a tale of two halves. This season NYCFC has outscored their opponents 9-7 in the first half, but outscored 17-9 in the second.
2) Gabe Segal’s flare for the dramatics is well noted. Prior to his game tying goal late in this match, his first MLS game came in a 1-1 draw against Orlando when he scored in the 89th minute.
3) During this winless streak with just 4 draws in now 10 matches (if you include the US Open loss) they’ve been outscored 14-6.
4) With regards to facing Atlanta, NYCFC is currently 1-3-2 at Mercedez Benz Stadium, however is 2-0-3 in their last 5.
About the author – Scott Churchson has been an actor in every way for the past 13 years, from BG to stand in to stunts and principal, a sports writer for the past 4 and is one of the people that created Stream Punk Entertainment. He’s married to a veterinarian, has a cat with three working legs, a mother-in-law who just moved in and is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe.
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