Early Goal, Late Misses: New York City FC fall to Columbus Crew in penalties

New York City FC's deep 2024 Leagues Cup run has come to an end.

NYCFC bolted to an early lead when Alonso Martínez pounced on a defensive mistake to score in the 12th second of the match – it was the fastest goal in both Leagues Cup and New York City history – but Columbus evened it up before the end of the half, and went on to win the penalty shootout after the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Few expected New York City to make it this far in the tournament. The young squad is as talented as they are inconsistent, and they began the competition with a foul-heavy 0-0 draw against an underwhelming Querétaro FC at home then a gutting 4-2 loss to FC Cincinnati on the road. But the improving team defeated New England in penalty kicks on a stormy night at Gillette Stadium, then soundly outplayed MX giants Tigres UANL at Red Bull Arena.

But they couldn't find a way to get a road win on short rest over the reigning MLS Champions. Now New York City have a week to recover before the resumption of league play when they host Chicago Fire on Saturday, August 24 at Citi Field, while Columbus will face Philadelphia Union in the Leagues Cup Semifinals and add more fixtures to an already congested schedule.

An exhausted NYCFC brought the fight

Officially, this was NYCFC's fourth consecutive game on the road. True, the last "away" match was against Tigres at Red Bull Arena, but the squad were in Foxborough last week, and in Cincinnati a few days before that, and you could see how the accumulation of so many miles and minutes drained much of the energy from this squad.

The Maxi Moralez and Santiago Rodríguez who were so electric against Tigres on Tuesday looked depleted, while Keaton Parks and Hannes Wolf did just enough to stay in the game. As a result, New York City struggled to create chances, managing to take just six shots, only three of which were on goal.

Although Columbus gave up that embarrassingly early goal to Martínez, they went on to control the tempo of the game and were the more dangerous side for much of the match. A squad made up of veteran players in their prime looked cool and collected as they played their third home game in a row. They also looked relatively fresh after sitting out the Leagues Cup group stage courtesy of winning the MLS Cup last year, and earning a first-round bye along with Liga MX champions Club América.

THE FASTEST GOAL IN CLUB HISTORY.

WHO ELSE BUT ALONSO MARTINEZ 🇨🇷 pic.twitter.com/9kfGCwq9hx

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) August 17, 2024

But New York City still found ways to frustrate the home team. The Crew found their goal in the 41st minute, when a Cucho Hernandez header nestled into the lower-left corner of the goal just out of reach of a diving Matt Freese. But a Columbus that scored seven goals in their two previous Leagues Cup games – and scored three goals against Inter Miami inside 13 minutes on Tuesday – couldn't find a way to take the lead in a game they were widely expected to win.

But exhaustion caught up with the New York City squad. Going into this game, the team was a perfect 11-for-11 in penalty shootouts, taking an extra point against Querétaro in the group stage and then advancing past New England in the Round of 32. Tonight, Moralez's penalty was saved by Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, then Rodríguez sent his attempt over the bar.

Rodríguez looked unsure of himself as he prepared to take the kick. The field at that point was chewed up, and there was a noticeable divot next to the penalty spot exactly where a right-footed player would step before taking a kick. The midfielder made some adjustments as he placed the ball, but when he took his shot his planted foot appeared to be unstable.

Is that why the ball soared into the stands? Maybe. It's hard to hold it against Rodríguez, who was easily the best player on the field against Tigres, and was one of the reasons why New York City even made it this far. But you can't help but think that a more rested and composed Rodríguez would have scored that any other day.

Solid defending on the road

Earlier this year, we reported that "New York City's defense is even better than you think," as the team have allowed the fewest away goals in MLS play this season. before the league pressed pause for Leagues Cup, NYCFC allowed just 16 goals in 13 matches, which works out to 1.23 goals per away game.

Major League Soccer | Goals Allowed as Away Team*

*As of July 20, 2024, before the start of Leagues Cup

New York City's ability to frustrate their opponents on the road has held strong through this Leagues Cup — with the notable exception of the 4-2 collapse to Cincinnati, when backup goalkeeper Luis Barraza let in four goals inside of 11 minutes in the worst passage of defending in club history. The single goals NYCFC allowed against New England at Gillette Stadium, Tigres at Red Bull Arena, and now Columbus at Lower.com Field are more in line with the team's performance this year.

NYCFC's defensive play frustrated Columbus all night, holding the team to just one goal despite an xG of 1.58. By comparison. Columbus scored three goals against Miami on Tuesday when they had an xG of 1.78, and four goals against Sporting Kansas City last week when they had an xG of 2.61.

A Columbus that regularly over-performs against most teams underperformed at home when facing New York City.

New York City FC’s defense is even better than you think

We crunched the numbers and New York City FC have allowed the fewest away goals in MLS after limiting a white-hot Orlando City to just one goal tonight.

Hudson River BlueOliver Strand

Lessons learned

Was this a successful Leagues Cup for New York City? It depends on how you look at success.

If it's winning the tournament, and adding a third cup to the club's trophy cabinet, then the answer is no.

But these five games provided an important learning curve for this young squad. The Cincinnati loss allowed the players to confront what it's like to receive a bare-bottom spanking in front of thousands of cheering fans. The New England penalty win showed that they can recover from an embarrassment like that one, and regain their concentration. The Tigres win demonstrated that they can outplay one of the best teams on the continent. And the Columbus loss confirmed that New York City are one of the only teams in the league that can trouble the Crew, even in Ohio.

Individually, Rodríguez continued to evolve into one of the best attacking midfielders in MLS, and Freese confirmed he is already one of the best goalkeepers anywhere. Strahinja Tanasijević proved that he is a capable starter, 17-year-old Christian McFarlane showed that the left-back position now has real depth, and 19-year-old Jovan Mijatović established that he can score.

Other questions remain. Martínez's goal was a delight, but New York City need more than two goals in five games from the striker position — and more than six goals overall. The defensive lapses in the Cincinnati game can't be entirely put on Barraza's performance. And Head Coach Nick Cushing's decision to play the same Starting XI against both Tigres and Columbus may have made the team more predictable when facing a head coach as intelligent as Wilfried Nancy.

But you have to look at the tournament as a positive experience all around. Not only did this team grow and develop over these five games, they earned a reported $100,000 for every appearance and another $50,000 for every win.

An extra $650,000 isn't so bad in a league where winning MLS Cup gets you just $300,000.

Leagues Cup Quarterfinals | Official Match Highlights
Columbus Crew 1 (4) - 1 (3) New York City FC