New York City FC player ratings are determined by you, the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are the NYCFC player ratings from the testy 2-1 loss to Deportivo Toluca at Yankee Stadium to close out Leagues Cup's Phase One.
New York City Football Club faltered against Deportivo Toluca, ending their run in the Leagues Cup with an uninspiring 2-1 loss Tuesday night.
Off the back of a couple of mixed results, many were unsure of what to expect from New York City as they faced off against Toluca in their third Leagues Cup match. On one hand, New York City just beat Club León comfortably, an important bounce-back win after opening their Leagues Cup with a 3-0 loss to Club Puebla. On the other hand, Toluca entered this match sitting second in the Liga MX table, and with no losses in their Leagues Cup run so far.
Things looked up in the first 15 minutes for the Major League Soccer side. The Sky Blues dominated possession, creating multiple chances, eventually opening the scoring with a wonderful strike from the red-hot Alonso Martínez.
Abe Shire
However, the tide quickly turned. Pascal Jansen’s side was shaky defensively, unable to cope with Toluca’s creative attack of Paulinho, Jesús Angulo, and Helinho, all of whom played key roles in both goals. Helinho started things when he delivered a wonderful cross with the outside of his foot, causing Matt Freese to uncharacteristically misjudge the flight of the ball and leave the goal vacant for Angulo’s rebound header. It was schoolboy stuff from there. Less than two minutes later, NYCFC switched off as Paulinho was able to finish a controversial go-ahead goal that was initially ruled offside before VAR decided to let it stand.
The team average for this edition of Player Ratings is a 6.0, as Alonso Martínez was voted Player of the Match for the eighth time in all competitions with a 7.0 rating. Andrés Perea (6.7) and Justin Haak (6.6) were the next-highest earners. Despite NYCFC conceding twice in the first half, Haak was mostly steady the rest of the way, making five clearances and two interceptions.
Andrew Leigh
Perea had another underrated performance in the midfield, winning 12 duels and finishing the game as a makeshift center-back as New York City pushed for the equalizer. Perea even took the final kick of the game, when he pounced on a loose ball in the box and took a shot that looked as though it may have struck a Toluca defender’s hand. That was waved off by VAR to end the match.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Alonso Martínez, off 64' (7.2) – 7.0
Agustín Ojeda (7.1) – 5.7
Nicolás Fernández, off 80' (6.4) – 6.1
Maxi Moralez (7.3) – 6.4
Andrés Perea (7.1) – 6.7
Aiden O'Neill (6.3) – 6.2
Kevin O'Toole (7.3) – 5.8
Tayvon Gray (6.4) – 5.0
Justin Haak (6.3) – 6.6
Strahinja Tanasijević (6.0) – 5.6
Matt Freese (6.5) – 6.3
