NEW YORK – There were reasons for New York City FC to be optimistic as they hit the pitch at Citi Field, where a soccer pitch was jammed inside a baseball diamond on Wednesday as they welcomed Inter Miami. NYCFC entered the match in fourth place and had five wins in their last six, rising up the table at just the right time with the MLS Cup playoffs within sight. They played a fairly even first half, too, against a Miami team who were under pressure to make their three games in hand count, nor were the hosts out of the game as they entered the final stages of the match a goal down.
What a difference, though, 13 minutes can make.
Inter Miami went from a 1-0 lead in the 73rd minute to a 4-0 lead by the 86th, NYCFC’s defense collapsing in impressive fashion. There was a sense of inevitability as Lionel Messi’s magic was on full display for a sellout crowd in Queens, the World Cup winner scoring twice in that 13 minute stretch and giving them the exact thing the attendees came to see. Messi’s first goal saw Sergio Busquets play a stellar ball through traffic before it landed at his feet, the star then making his way toward U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Matt Freese before effortlessly chipping him for the finish. Messi essentially did all the work himself for his second in the 86th minute, winning the ball on the right flank and leaving several opponents in his wake as he cut inside and then scored from inside the penalty area.
Messi’s brilliance, though, was just as apparent as NYCFC’s sudden frailty. Whatever resolve they had for 73 minutes had completely disappeared in the final stretch of the match, crumbling as Miami’s attack resembled one pink wave after another. It was especially apparent on Messi’s second goal, carving up the opposition defense after he was gifted the ball.
“Considering the last 15 minutes where the accuracy on our side was getting worse and as I mentioned, we got punished for those moments as well,” NYCFC head coach Pascal Jensen said post-match. “If you look at the last goal that Messi scored, we’re in possession in a build-up phase and just hand it over in a turnover and it’s a goal so that makes it hard.”
The irony of the mistake-laden conclusion to NYCFC’s performance is that Jensen hoped the momentum would swing in the other direction entirely. He made two substitutions in the 73rd minute, taking off center back Thiago Martins and winger Agustin Ojeda while bringing on midfielder Jonathan Shore and forward Julian Fernandez. The plan never came to fruition.
“It was a moment in the game, close to 15, 20 minutes to go and I wanted to take some more risks in this moment and Aidan has helped us playing in the central defense position, getting himself into midfield so the basic idea behind it was to have more offensive power in possession knowing that Thiago has given a lot in the games previous to this game,” Jensen said.
As much as the late capitulation may define NYCFC’s defeat, though, they did not do themselves any favors beforehand. A look at the stat sheet showed a competitive game between two well-matched adversaries in a few categories – Miami had only outshot NYCFC seven to five but the visitors had put four of their attempts on target and had 0.92 expected goals to show for it. The hosts, by comparison, had just one shot on target and 0.61 expected goals to speak of. Before Miami’s late surge, the two teams were at opposite ends of the efficiency spectrum; the flurry of late goals merely magnified it.
“One of the things was very outspoken in the preparation for this game – you have to be very clinical in the finishing moments because the quality on the other side is that high that if you give them an opportunity to get back in the game or get ahead of you, it’s going to be tough,” Jensen said. “That’s part of the conversation now because we were not clinical enough in a few moments and simply didn’t have the intensity anymore to be good on the ball and make sure we attacked all spaces with accuracy.”
The outing is not necessarily a sign of doom and gloom for NYCFC but for Miami, it reasserted their credentials as one of MLS’ best sides. Some inconsistent results and their plethora of games in hand meant they had spent several weeks outside of the Eastern Conference’s highest spots but with Wednesday’s win, they booked a playoff spot and thrust themselves back into the Supporters’ Shield race. There are now just five points separating them from the league leaders, the Philadelphia Union, with two games in hand – even if head coach Javier Mascherano is taking things one game at a time.
“We are happy now because we are official[ly] qualified for the playoffs so that was very important for us and now we have to continue moving forward,” Mascherano said. “We know that we have two games in hand so we will try now to rest, to recover and go into Toronto [FC]. We know how difficult [it] will be [on] Saturday because we have less than 72 hours to play but we are trying to play our best, trying to win the game and trying to qualify as high as possible. If we can win the next five games that we have, [it] will be great and we’ll have [the] chance to fight for Supporters’ Shield but we cannot think about the five games. We need to think about Toronto, trying to recover the people, the players and trying to go to Saturday to play a good game. Always, I say the most important game that we have is the next one and we are focused on that.”
