Was this rock bottom for New York City FC?
That four-goal bludgeoning at the hands of the Philadelphia Union was among the worst home losses in the club’s history, and you handed out some extremely low player ratings to mark the low occasion.
The player responsible for NYCFC’s lone goal (who could have also scored another) earned your Player of the Match votes, but no one came out of this dreadful performance looking good. The Starting XI averaged a rating of 3.7 with eight players rated in the 3s.
Oliver Strand
Head Coach Nick Cushing took a beating to almost match his team’s, and the referee earned a higher rating than all but one New York City player who saw time on the Yankee Soccer Stadium pitch.
There are some significant gaps between the more positive rating numbers from FotMob and the harsh scores you the readers handed down.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Alonso MartĂnez, off 58′ (7.1) – 5.9
Santiago RodrĂguez (8.2) – 4.2
Hannes Wolf, off 58′ (6.4) – 3.6
AgustĂn Ojeda, off 46′ (6.4) – 3.3
Keaton Parks (6.0) – 3.5
James Sands (5.1) – 3.4
Tayvon Gray, off 46′ (5.4) – 3.3
Kevin O’Toole (4.4) – 4.0
Thiago Martins (3.8) – 3.1
Strahinja Tanasijević, off 71′ (6.0) – 3.6
Matt Freese (2.9) – 3.6
Mitja IleniÄŤ, on 46′ (6.8) – 4.2
Maxi Moralez, on 46′ (6.5) – 4.7
Mounsef Bakrar, on 58′ (6.1) – 4.2
AndrĂ©s Perea, on 58′ (6.4) – 4.4
Jovan Mijatović, on 71′ (6.2) – 3.8
Player Spotlight
Santiago RodrĂguez
New York City only scored one goal, at the very end of first-half stoppage time, but they did put Philadelphia under tons of pressure while chasing the game. Santiago RodrĂguez was the driver of much of that pressure, deserving of some credit for a strong showing in the ugly loss.
He didn’t score a goal or get credited for an assist, but Santi set up NYCFC’s best chance of the night in the 62nd minute. He did well to use his chest to control a lofted pass from Maxi Moralez, then perfectly placed a pass between three Philadelphia defenders and into the path of an onrushing Keaton Parks.
Parks was clear in on goal and beat Philadelphia goalkeeper Andrew Rick with his shot, but that shot did not beat the post, wasting what Opta rated as the match’s best scoring chance by either team in terms of expected goals (0.70 xG for that chance). Had that been converted, NYCFC would have pulled within one goal and the tenor of the final 30 minutes might have changed – but it wasn’t.
Santi got credited for playing seven key passes and for being responsible for a match-high 13 shot-creating actions, all per FBref.com. He was the creative center of the New York City attack, though that attack was lacking in end product all night long. RodrĂguez also did a ton of work in possession, the leader among all players in carries of the ball, the progressive distance of his carries of the ball, and fouls drawn, while he also ranked second in touches and passes attempted in this game.
FotMob was impressed by his work, rating the 24-year-old Uruguayan at 8.2, the highest rating of any NYCFC player. Your ratings were much harsher on Santi’s performance, though his 4.2 rating was still the second-highest among players in the Starting XI.
Nick Cushing – 2.4
Eight straight matches in MLS play without a win and a worst loss ever against the team many consider NYCFC’s second-biggest rival adds up to an abysmal rating for Nick Cushing. He has preached patience and “trusting the process” throughout what’s been an up-and-down season, but fans appear to be running out of patience as the season begins to run out of time. Yes it’s a young team and yes they’ve shown improvements, but this kind of home loss is unprecedented, not seen since the year 2016. The Union looked hungrier and were ruthless with their chances, while Cushing’s team looked rattled after conceding the first goal and wasted scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity, something that’s been familiar during many of the team’s down stretches during The Cushing Era.
Pierre-Luc Lauziere – 5.0
The ref scored higher than every single non-Alonso MartĂnez NYCFC player. This is what happens when you get Ted Unkel’ed in Columbus before the international break then follow it up with the VAR-heavy, Alonso-was-onside mess of a game in Washington, DC last weekend. Lauziere wasn’t involved in any major controversies or overturned calls and actually seemed to do James Sands a favor — he easily could have been booked a few times in the first half and thus be forced to sit out the Miami game with another yellow card accumulation suspension, but Lauziere spared him. With Miami and the Red Bulls next up for NYCFC, here’s hoping the controversy-free refereeing will continue.
Player of the Match
Alonso MartĂnez
Scoring the team’s lone goal was enough for El ClĂnico to claim his sixth Player of the Match honor of the season.
He really should have had a brace in this game, as he failed to connect on a volley similar to the one he buried in the fifth minute of time added at the end of the first half to make it a two-goal deficit for New York City to try to erase.
ALONSO RECUPERA UNO 🇨🇷 pic.twitter.com/7CoTLOp9Ft
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) September 19, 2024
That’s an acrobatic finish, and the game might have been different had he scored two instead of one before the halftime whistle, but it’s hard to fault MartĂnez. He remains the main source of goals for New York City at this point in the season, now up to 12 league goals and leading NYCFC in that category.
He has scored in four of his last five appearances for NYCFC across MLS and Leagues Cup, and earned a 7.1 from FotMob for his efforts in the heavy loss to Philadelphia. You only rated him at a 5.9 but that was still the highest rating on the team. He somewhat surprisingly was removed in just the 58th minute, still yet to complete a full 90 minutes for Nick Cushing this season.
MartĂnez has been finding the back of the net and his latest goal continues his run of good goal-scoring form, though even he would likely say this wasn’t one of his most clinical performances. Then again, this ugly loss wasn’t the best performance for any member of New York City FC.
This isn’t to discount the many positive things Santi did during what was an overall awful performance by the BIB, but I’m pretty sure that sometime in the first 15 mins when defending a Philadelphia corner kick, he accidentally headed the corner into our own penalty box. Could have been another Union goal but fortunately wasn’t