“It’s only one match.”
That was the theme after New York City FC settled for a late 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution Wednesday night in the Bronx.
“It’s only one match and we’ve been doing really well this season,” said midfielder Jack Harrison. “I don’t think it’s something to be concerned about.”
Dropping the two points at home pushed NYCFC down to fifth in the Eastern Conference table (6-5-3, 21 points) with another conference matchup coming Saturday (1 p.m. ET, YES) against a Philadelphia Union side that’s won four of their last five.
Maybe there’s more to be concerned about than some think. NYCFC has won just one of their past five, with the lone win at Orlando City. Two draws came against FC Dallas and New England and two losses were at Real Salt Lake and Atlanta. Of those four non-wins, FC Dallas is the only team that’s above the red line — everyone else is currently a non-playoff team.
“We’re a strong team,” midfielder Mikey Lopez said. “Unfortunately [Wednesday night] wasn’t the result we wanted, but we know that we can grind these games out.”
“We are frustrated because we feel like we’ve thrown two points away,” said head coach Patrick Vieira. “I’m disappointed because when you lead at home twice, you expect to take the three points.”
NYCFC’s last home draw was against the Montreal Impact on March 18, when they squandered a one-goal lead in the second half. On Wednesday, Revs’ midfielder Xavier Kouassi’s goal stole what should’ve been an NYCFC win.
The Blues haven’t been great defensively during their past five. They’ve allowed as many goals as they’ve scored (eight) and don’t seem to have any answers to fix the problem.
“We can talk about conceding the goal late,” Vieira said. “We can talk about the number of chances we create … but we have been naive with the way we were defending .”
“Every game is a lesson,” Lopez said. “A win, lose or tie, every game is a lesson, and this can only make us better in the long run.”
