The five game winning streak is a thing of the past for NYCFC as the team dropped their second in a row, this time on the road to the LA Galaxy 2-0 on Wednesday night. The outcome was a bit unexpected considering how well the team has played offensively. Players like Alonso Martinez, Santiago Rodriguez and Hannes Wolf have now found themselves wondering where to find their legs while chasing games.
Defensively, City haven’t had a clean sheet since May 25th against New England. Without their offense firing, it is likely that City will continue to slip in close games such as the ones played over the past seven days.
“We need to remain positive,” said defender and captain Thiago Martins. “We need to stick together, because if we start pointing fingers it won’t help. Now we need to figure out how we can improve and how we can change this moment.”
The moment is one that throws the season into disarray. The start of the campaign saw City unable to take advantage of a large home stretch. The club had only one win in their first seven games. From there they tallied eight of the following nine games as wins, boosting them up the standings. Now, they’ve let two games slip away leaving many to wonder just what kind of team they really are.
We know that injuries have played a factor in City’s issues in 2024. Talles Magno has been unavailable and Maxi Moralez only recently began making appearances. Other injuries to Martins and O’Toole left a disjointed backline while James Sands and Keaton Parks have been inconsistent. Still, City is looking to avoid another spiral when they visit a hot Nashville team on Saturday who has only one loss in their last seven games and a win over Toronto this past Wednesday.
“We know that playing away from home is always difficult,” said Martins when asked about the upcoming game against Nashville. “We need to follow the coaches instructions. We need to stay positive, because it’s not just two losses. We need to turn these into victories, we need to get better, and to improve our team.”
City are currently in fourth place with a game in hand on rivals New York Red Bulls in third place. A win would push them one point ahead of Red Bulls, depending on their result at home against Toronto.
photo by Jordan Banks