New York City FC looked to be on the way to a first away win of 2025, but instead, the team threw away a two-goal lead in the second half and fell 4-3 to Atlanta United FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
This was a mess of a game that saw each team make costly mistake after costly mistake, but Atlanta did more to take advantage and got the goals they needed to overturn what was a 3-1 deficit by the 52nd minute. Any defensive momentum from New York City earning a first clean sheet of the season in Columbus a week ago evaporated on the turf at the Benz.
The loss and the nature of the loss give us lots to digest, so read on for five assorted thoughts about the game written near the blowing of the final whistle in Atlanta.
1. Atlanta's three unanswered
NYCFC should be leaving the Benz with three points, but their defense let them down while playing ahead near the end of the second half and they instead emerge with zero points and a deeply frustrating loss.
This was a match full of mistakes that led to goals scored by both teams, but NYCFC will look at this as a winnable game they threw away. The own goal by Keaton Parks in the 62nd minute swung all the momentum into Atlanta's favor, but NYCFC didn't do enough to try to regain control or settle things down after that mistake, instead letting Atlanta have the ball and press for an equalizer, which they got. The final mistake that sealed the defeat for NYCFC was an uncharacteristic moment of indecision and lack of communication between the team's two defensive leaders, Thiago Martins and Matt Freese, providing a bitter final taste for a team that remains without much to feel good about when they're playing on the road.
2. NYCFC handed chance after chance
Atlanta looked to have made bigger and more costly mistakes in this match – until NYCFC started outdoing them. There was the loose touch deep in the defensive half by Derrick Williams leading to the first goal scored by Hannes Wolf in the 14th minute. NYCFC regained its lead early in the second half when Brooks Lennon recklessly crashed into Alonso Martínez in his 18-yard box, giving NYCFC a penalty which Martínez converted. Then 17-year-old Dominik Chong-Qui committed an even worse giveaway than the one by Williams to set up Wolf's second goal at 52' to make it 3-1. NYCFC was ruthless and efficient in converting their chances and it should have been enough for a win, but New York City seemed to turn its proverbial switch into the "Off" position right after Keaton Parks scored that own goal in the 62nd minute.
3. Wolf back to prowling
Nothing positive about the way New York City lost this game, but they did get a huge performance from Hannes Wolf, who is showing signs that he's capable of playing like the closest thing to an attacking Designated Player for New York City FC. The Austrian winger took full advantage of the opportunities that came his way in front of goal and seemed to grow in confidence throughout the match, completing 90% of his passes and generally seeming sharper than he did in the season's first few matches. He and Julián Fernández looked especially out of sync and not much of a threat while facing Columbus on Matchday 5, but they were each involved in the goals in Atlanta with Wolf's brace and Julián assisting on one of those goals. They've each gotten the longest look so far this season as the starting wingers in Jansen's attack and Wolf has seemed to pick up his performance, which is a good sign, even if it wasn't enough for a win.
4. Jansen second-guessing season opens
This feels like a first real chance to question Pascal Jansen's decision-making, and it started when the Starting XI dropped a little after 6:30 pm.
Jansen could have played a more veteran side with Birk Risa in the center-back pairing with Thiago Martins, and Justin Haak and Keaton Parks in midfield, with Jonathan Shore then available off the bench as a substitute. Instead, Shore started once more and was paired with Parks, but it wasn't the strongest game from either Shore or Parks. Parks was a slight surprise to see in the XI given he left the Columbus match injured after just 35 minutes, but Jansen had little hesitation putting him back in there.
Keaton Parks starts, Birk Risa doesn’t: wouldn’t have guessed that coming out of the game in Columbus but that’s how it is in Atlanta Full NYCFC XI: Freese; O’Toole, Haak, Thiago Martins, Ilenič; Parks, Shore; Wolf, Moralez, Fernández; Martínez
— Hudson River Blue (@hudsonriverblue.com) March 29, 2025 at 6:37 PM
It's easy to second-guess the lineup, especially along the back line, when you concede four goals and lose. The fact remains that Risa had one of his better performances against the Crew a week ago and looked good while coming on as an early substitute the week before that when Nico Cavallo had to go off injured vs. New England. No guarantees that a Risa-Thiago Martins pairing holds up better near the end of the game and avoids the meltdown that befell NYCFC, but it's fair to wonder about the move to lean on Shore once more. Jansen also waited until the 80th minute to make his first substitution, sending on Agustín Ojeda a full 17 minutes after Atlanta got a new lease on life after the Keaton Parks own goal.
5. Full circle with Ronny
It's no fun watching Ronny Deila fire up a home crowd after a big win when he's not doing it for New York City FC. It was a fitting game for the first time NYCFC faced off against Ronny Deila. After all, the coach famously said early in his NYCFC tenure that he'd rather his teams win 5-4 than 1-0, so he came pretty close to prophesy in this instance with the 4-3 Atlanta win.
It's also such a juxtaposition to see Deila's Atlanta United squad and compare it to Pascal Jansen's current NYCFC squad. Atlanta is equipped with multiple high-priced, imported attacking Designated Players and is in full-on "win-now" mode this season while expecting to compete for trophies under Deila, who has won many of them in his career. Jansen's team is relying on teenagers and is still in wait-and-see mode when it comes to signing expensive new talent, or any new professionally-tested talent.
Deila's Atlanta team needed a win more desperately than Jansen's NYCFC, but it's never a great feeling to see your ex start thriving at your expense.
