New York City vs Philadelphia player ratings

New York City FC player ratings are determined by you, the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are the NYCFC player ratings from the frenetic 1-0 loss to Supporters' Shield-winning Philadelphia Union on Saturday.

Coming off their dazzling three-goal derby performance last Saturday, New York City FC seemed poised to deliver some offensive firepower in this matchup against regional rival Philadelphia Union. Instead, the Boys in Blue were held scoreless after a few botched shots on crucial scoring opportunities. It’s no surprise, then, that you let the players have it with mediocre ratings of 5s and 6s across the board – save for goalkeeper Matt Freese’s 7.5 rating – and a squad average of 5.7.

Sure, Philadelphia’s stingy defense deserves much of the credit here. But the hosts also made mistakes that NYCFC just didn't exploit.

Alonzo Martínez set the scoreless tone early, missing a near-open net just one minute into the match following a fantastic set of passes from Justin Haak, Kevin O'Toole, and Hannes Wolf, who touched the ball to Martinez in the box. Martínez did well to beat the keeper, but his subsequent missed shot would haunt his club for the rest of the match.

And not to pick on the guy, but it was a Martínez turnover just two minutes later that required Freese’s first brilliant save of the night on a diving stop near post. With such goalkeeping prowess on display – and for a player coming off a concussion injury no less – it’s fair to surmise that Freese could also have denied the lone goal he conceded, had it not come off a deflection.

It's no wonder that it was the goalkeeper extraordinaire who earned his sixth Player of the Match vote in a taut match with playoff-like intensity. Freese will need to maintain that level of play for New York City to shine come playoffs.

Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.