NYCFC lose to Seattle on pair of set-piece goals

New York City FC closed out the MLS regular season with a loss to Seattle Sounders FC at Citi Field, falling 2-1 on Decision Day on a pair of second-half goals scored from dead-ball situations.

The two teams played a disjointed and forgettable first half, but a trio of goals in the second half decided things in the away team’s favor. It was scoreless for 60 minutes in Queens until Seattle’s Jordan Morris struck first, rising highest on a free kick and directing a header past Matt Freese.

Nico Fernández Mercau scored an equalizer for New York City in the 82nd minute, but they couldn’t protect a point at home. A corner kick found the head of Sounders defender Jackson Ragen and he powered his header home in the 87th minute, and no late equalizer would be found by NYCFC.

Pascal Jansen ends his first MLS regular season in charge of New York City with a 17W-5D-12L record (the second most regular-season wins in club history), 56 points, and in 5th Place in the Eastern Conference. They wouldn’t have climbed any higher in the table even with a draw or a win over Seattle, given that Charlotte FC won their match and clinched 4th Place – setting up a best-of-three series between NYCFC and Charlotte in Round One of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

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NYCFC will open the postseason on the road against Charlotte before coming back to Yankee Stadium to play Game Two in the best-of-three Round One of the MLS playoffs.

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First-half slog

There was zero rhythm to the first 45 minutes played between NYCFC and the Sounders. An early, serious knee injury suffered by Seattle’s Pedro de la Vega caused a lengthy delay inside the first half-hour of the match. Neither team created great chances and it took until stoppage time of the half for either side to register a shot on target, when Justin Haak forced Seattle keeper Stefan Frei to make a diving save to push away a strike from the top of the 18-yard box.

Injuries, fouls, and yellow cards were more the story of the first half than fluid attacking moves, chances created, or shots on target. That style played right into the hands of the Sounders, who were missing and/or resting some of their key players (Yeimar Gomez Andrade, Cristian Roldan, two examples) while playing a cross-country match that had absolutely zero significance for their playoff positioning.

New York City needed three points if they were to have any hope of climbing on their side of the MLS table, but they didn’t come out playing with the sense of urgency or with the sharpness needed to threaten the Sounders in the first half.

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NYCFC lost to Seattle at Citi Field to close out their regular season, and now heads into the MLS Cup Playoffs on a modest two-match losing streak.

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Undone by set pieces, twice

Neither Seattle goal came from open play, but they cashed in expertly off two dead balls and it was enough to earn them all three points. The Sounders jumped ahead first from a free kick, as Jordan Morris got free and got up above any nearby NYCFC defenders to nod home the opener. They found their winner from a corner kick, with towering center-back Jackson Ragen brushing aside NYCFC’s 17-year-old midfielder Máximo Carrizo to thump a header past Freese.

Speaking of Carrizo, the U-17 World Cup-bound midfielder did have a hand in New York City’s lone goal. He picked up a secondary assist, cutting back a pass to Julián Fernández, who played Nico Fernández in to have his deflected shot find the back of the net.

That goal was only a minor bright spot because the marking from NYCFC in two important set-piece scenarios left a lot to be desired. Kevin O’Toole couldn’t stick with Morris on the Seattle opener, then there was a noticeable mismatch with a young player exploited by Ragen on the winner. Defending set plays wasn’t a glaring issue for New York City during the regular season, but they ended their MLS campaign with two slip-ups that cost them a chance at one or more points in Queens, and anything resembling momentum heading into the postseason.

Playoff ready?

New York City FC couldn’t get a result against the Sounders but it also wouldn’t have mattered even if they did. Yet the loss makes it two straight defeats to end the regular season, and losses in three of their final four games.

What might be most concerning is that all three of those losses came against fellow participants in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Beating good teams had been something of a speciality for Pascal Jansen’s side this season: They swept Cincinnati, beat Philadelphia once, and went unbeaten against each of the four teams that qualified for the playoffs in spots below them in the Eastern Conference table.

Despite being the team with a greater sense of urgency on Decision Day, New York City got beat by a Seattle team out there only doing it for the love of the game. It was Seattle who could feel good postmatch about turning in a resolute, gritty performance, the kind of grind away from home that you need to be able to pull off if you’re going to make noise in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

At one point recently, NYCFC seemed like a dark horse contender that might be ready to pull off an upset or upsets during this postseason. They still might, but losing to Miami, Philadelphia, and now Seattle in the manners in which they lost might temper some of those expectations heading into the playoffs.

NYCFC showed an ability to beat the top teams in MLS during the season, but it was always a tight, usually one-goal affair. They now they head into the playoffs perhaps a little less sure of their footing in these types of games, given they’ve lost two of them in a row – but all begins anew when the playoffs kick off in Charlotte.