The glass-half-full crowd will overlook New York City FC‘s scoreless draw with Querétaro FC in Sunday night’s Leagues Cup group stage match and instead focus on the penalty shootout: When NYCFC came out on top and won the extra point they put themselves in an excellent position to advance to the knockout round of the tournament.
The glass-half-empty crowd will go right back to that 0-0 scoreline: Why couldn’t NYCFC find a way to get at least one goal at home when playing the team with the worst record in Liga MX?
And it’s the glass-half-empty crowd that seemingly cast most of the votes in this player rating poll. For the most part, your numbers are one to two points lower than the ones produced by the HAL 9000 over at FotMob’s international HQ.
Our readers didn’t even spare Maxi Moralez: The 37-year-old playmaker was given an 8.0 by the FotMob algorithm, and a 7.1 by you. Or Louis Barraza. The goalkeeper kept a clean sheet and saved a penalty to earn New York City a second point that could prove to be key to the team advancing. You awarded him Player of the Match honors and a 7.4, while FotMob gave him a more dignified 8.0.
The ratings speak to your frustration with the night, and the performances you saw on the field. It seems that nobody came out of this game looking great, not even the goalkeeper who (checks notes) made five saves and had a 93% pass completion rate — and made more passes than every Querétaro player on the field.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Andrew Leigh
Mounsef Bakrar, off 58′ (5.6) – 4.7
Talles Magno, off 70′ (7.3) – 6.5
Julián Fernández (6.9) – 4.4
Maxi Moralez (8.0) – 7.1
Justin Haak (7.5) – 5.4
James Sands (7.7) – 6.2
Mitja Ilenič, off 86′ (6.1) – 5.3
Christian McFarlane (6.7) – 6.4
Thiago Martins (7.5) – 6.3
Birk Risa (7.7) – 6.3
Luis Barraza (8.0) – 7.4
Jovan Mijatović, on 58′ (6.4) – 4.8
Agustín Ojeda, on 69′ (6.0) – 4.8
Alonso Martínez, on 70′ (6.2) – 6.3
Tayvon Gray, on 86′ (n/a) – 5.3
Player Spotlight(s)
Alonso Martínez, Thiago Martins, Maxi Moralez, and Jovan Mijatović
When did New York City get so good at penalties? Going into this game, nobody would look at Alonso Martínez, Thiago Martins, Maxi Moralez, and Jovan Mijatović as natural-born killers. But after the penalties they converted on Sunday night, they’re the league’s new Murderers’ Row.
It wasn’t just that NYCFC went four-for-four, it was the quality of the shots: Accurate, powerful, assured. Every player had a plan, and every plan was executed to perfection.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this penalty lineup consisted of the nominal backup striker, a center-back who last scored in 2020 while playing in the J. League, a 37-year-old midfielder who was relieved of penalty duties when he got the yips three years ago, and a 19-year-old backup-backup striker who hasn’t placed a shot on target this season.
And yet every one of them strode up to the spot oozing confidence. Every one of them looked like the team’s designated penalty taker, and every one of them lashed home a shot that should give New York City fans some goal-scoring hope heading into the rest of Leagues Cup — and the MLS season beyond.
Mark Radigan
Nick Cushing – 5.5
When the lineup card came out, it looked like the New York City head coach chose to prioritize the Major League Soccer season over Leagues Cup and play a heavily rotated side. Keaton Parks, Santiago Rodríguez, and Hannes Wolf didn’t dress for the game — it left the attack exposed, but allowed those players to sit out the match. But in the postgame press conference, Cushing said the lineup was more the product of slight injuries and knocks than intentionally resting the core players.
Hmmm. Whatever the reasoning, a team missing five regular starters couldn’t get a win at home over a vulnerable Querétaro, and yet did get that valuable second point.
How valuable, you ask? Querétaro will play FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium on Thursday, August 1 at 8 pm ET, and if they lose, or draw and fail to get the extra point, then New York City will automatically advance. It’s not such a bad spot for the team to find themselves.
Kaylor Herrera – 3.8
In maybe the niftiest trick of the night, the ref from the Primera Divisíon in Costa Rica let things get physical and called a lot of fouls. It takes a special talent to both let play continue and consistently stop the game at the same time.
Player of the Match
Luis Barraza
Give credit to the goalkeeper. It’s not easy to lose your starting job and spend close to a year on the bench, then make a start in a tournament game and look as sharp as ever. One clean sheet, five saves, 93% pass accuracy: Luis Barraza wasn’t just physically prepared to put in an error-free shift, he displayed the mental focus it takes to help carry a team that wasn’t exactly playing at their best. It’s the kind of performance that earns you Player of the Match.
A heads up save from Luis Barraza helped @newyorkcityfc keep a first half clean sheet. 🧤
Watch the second half with #MLSSeasonPass on Apple TV: https://t.co/Pau6rQAX5s pic.twitter.com/FMBF2zu4Hp
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 29, 2024
And then there was the penalty save he made to end the night. Querétaro’s Ronaldo Cisneros stepped up, but Barraza read his approach and dove to his left, denying the striker who scored seven goals for Atlanta United in 2022.
Nothing but praise from the gaffer. pic.twitter.com/flclXWcaN3
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) July 29, 2024
“His character and his personality have been excellent, his training habits have been top-level,” Cushing said in the postgame press conference. “That’s why you get these moments tonight, because he’s kept himself ready.”
Well deserved by Barraza. He was our best man on Sunday night, head and shoulders above the rest. And the fact that he prepares to play each week rather than sulking speaks to his professionalism and excellent character. I’m a major Freese fan but have always liked Barraza; Sunday night he really showed out.