New York City FC fell flat in their Leagues Cup opener against Club Puebla at Sports Illustrated Stadium, suffering a 3-0 defeat on a hot and humid night in Harrison, New Jersey.
Puebla struck first inside two minutes and New York City never clawed back into the game, eventually conceding a second goal in the first half.
The "home" team improved while down two goals in the second half after making tactical and personnel adjustments, but Puebla remained in control and eventually broke through and beat NYCFC's Matt Freese a third time to ice their comfortable victory.
This rotated version of New York City FC was second-best all night long at Sports Illustrated Stadium and now face an extremely uphill climb if they're to challenge for one of the top four spots in the MLS table during Phase One of Leagues Cup and advance to the knockout rounds – a possibility that turned into a long shot once Puebla ran out with this decisive win.
Matthew Mangam
New York City: 2.2 xG, 17 shots, 5 shots on target, 56% possession, 443 passes, 81.3% pass accuracy, 9 fouls, 12 corners, 2 saves
Puebla: 2.5 xG, 13 shots, 6 shots on target, 44% possession, 296 passes, 71.6% pass accuracy, 16 fouls, 8 corners, 5 saves
Goals:
• Puebla, Juan Manuel Fedorco, 2'
Puebla, Emiliano Gómez, 38'
Puebla, Owen Gonzalez, 88'
Attendance: 9,384
Slowest of starts
Puebla came out fast and jumped ahead of a rotated version of New York City FC almost from the start at Sports Illustrated Stadium. A second-minute corner kick turned into a golden opportunity for Puebla defender and club captain Juan Manuel Fedorco, with Fedorco unmarked in front of Matt Freese's goal and picked out by teammate Ricardo Marin's header. Fedorco collected and finished past Freese, putting the Liga MX side firmly in the driver's seat in New Jersey.
Video courtesy of @LeaguesCup on Twitter.
Against Puebla, it was Strahinja Tanasijević partnering with Justin Haak in the New York City central-defense, and neither center-back picked up the run of Fedorco on the opening goal.
The entire first half was a struggle for a New York City defense playing its second game since losing stalwart center-back Thiago Martins. Nico Cavallo had an extremely rough time while starting at left-back in place of Kevin O'Toole, routinely targeted in space by Puebla's attack. Their strategy paid off, as Cavallo drew an early yellow card for a reckless challenge, and then watched as a Puebla move to cut in from the right-wing over on his defensive side led to the Liga MX side's second goal not long before halftime.
A low cross by Puebla's Alejandro Organista rolled clear across the face of Matt Freese's goal and fell to the feet of an unmarked Emiliano Gómez, who had an easy tap-in to make it a 2-0 Puebla advantage after 38 minutes.
There are still major questions to be asked about filling the void left by Thiago Martins, with Pascal Jansen saying after the match, "It can never be about one player. However, Thiago [Martins] is a good player and a big personality. He takes care of the defense, makes other players feel comfortable, and that comfort is not there at the moment."
First starts
The New York City attack had a lot of work to do playing from behind from the second minute, but this was a rotated version of that attack. Two players made the first starts of their NYCFC careers, new Designated Player signing Nico Fernández Mercau and teen striker Seymour Reid.
Fernández Mercau announced his arrival with the match-winning assist against FC Dallas days prior, but he had a tougher time playing against fresh Puebla legs from the onset. He did provide a glimmer of hope for NYCFC late in the first half, appearing to draw a penalty kick in the 38th minute – only for VAR to intervene and for referee Iván Barton to reverse his on-field penalty decision.
Reid looked every bit as raw and like a 17-year-old as you'd expect while facing off against more seasoned, veteran defenders from Liga MX. The young striker struggled, Fernández Mercau didn't have a big impact, but neither of those things come as a huge surprise. Fernández Mercau is brand new to the New York City team and Pascal Jansen described him after the game as still being in his personal version of preseason, capped at only 45 minutes of action in this game.
NYCFC's attack relies heavily on its two leading scorers – Alonso Martínez and Hannes Wolf – and both, plus talisman Maxi Moralez, being left on the bench to get much-needed rest after the team's tough recent road trip made it hard for NYCFC to create much of anything when in possession.
No comeback, no Leagues Cup future?
While New York City looked better in the second half while down 0-2, there was no comeback on the cards. Adding Andrés Perea and Alonso Martínez to the fray after halftime improved the team's ability to get forward and trouble Puebla, but that first-half damage was too severe to reverse.
Puebla got a third goal late to put a proverbial cherry on top of their comfortable win, and New York City was left staring at the possibility that they've already dug too deep of a hole to climb out of when it comes to the new Leagues Cup format. Remember, you have to finish your three matches in Phase One of Leagues Cup with one of the top-four records among all MLS teams to earn one of only four places available to MLS teams in the knockout rounds.
A heavy defeat like this one against Puebla might prove insurmountable, since NYCFC now sits rock-bottom in 18th Place in the MLS table while being one of six MLS clubs to play on the tournament's first matchday.
The loss means that the team's next match, Friday evening back at Sports Illustrated Stadium against Club León, is a true must-win, if NYCFC is to have any hope of even sniffing a chance to advance. They'll need plenty of help elsewhere from other Liga MX teams, and it might be too tall of a task.
Rotating players out of his best possible Starting XI bit Pascal Jansen against Puebla, as his bench squad took it on the chin and looked second-best against a team that's been lingering near the bottom of the Liga MX standings for a few seasons.
Jansen might have another chance to test out young depth options, like Máximo Carrizo who played the final 30 minutes against Puebla, if his team doesn't get a positive result against León. It gets late early in this new version of Leagues Cup and it got late very early for NYCFC thanks to this poor performance against Puebla.
Hudson River Blue Staff
• Puebla, Franco Moyano, yellow card, poor sportsmanship, 23'
New York City, Nico Cavallo, yellow card, foul, 27'
Puebla, José Pachuca, yellow card, poor sportsmanship, 42'
New York City, Máximo Carrizo, yellow card, foul, 70'
Puebla, Nicolás Díaz, yellow card, foul, 77'
New York City, Justin Haak, yellow card, foul, 90'+3'
Officials
• Referee: Iván Barton
• Assistant referees: David Morán, Henri Pupiro
• Fourth official: José Raúl Torres
• VAR: Yasith Monge
• Assistant VAR: Jorge Camacho Peregrina
