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Game Recap — New York City FC

New York City earn "three-point draw" in Atlanta

Mounsef Bakrar and Talles Magno unlikely heroes to come through for New York City FC in 2-2 draw with Atlanta United.

,   and  Oliver Strand
6 min read
© Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It was a redemption story for New York City FC, who overcame a two-goal deficit to get a 2-2 draw against Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium thanks to two unlikely goal-scorers.

First, Mounsef Bakrar found the back of the net in the 65th minute. It was just the third goal this season for the New York City striker, whose high workrate and dreadful finishing make him one of the most exasperating forwards in Major League Soccer.

Then Talles Magno drew a penalty, and converted from the spot. It was just the second appearance this season for the Designated Player, who was brought on as a late substitute. Talles Magno has been effectively iced out of the squad this season amid rumors that have him leaving in the summer transfer window.

But both Bakrar and Talles Magno came through to earn what Head Coach Nick Cushing called a "three-point draw" in the postgame press conference. Officially, the result only brings the team one point on the table, but it was a solid display from a squad missing five starters, and that was playing on the road on short rest.

New York City remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 37 points, one point behind New York Red Bulls (who drew CF Montréal 2-2 at home), and one point ahead of Charlotte FC (who drew Columbus Crew 1-1 on the road).

GAME STATS

New York City: 11 shots, 5 shots on target, 58.8% possession, 513 passes, 86.0% pass accuracy, 7 fouls, 7 saves

Atlanta United: 13 shots, 9 shots on target, 42.2% possession, 335 passes, 77.3% pass accuracy, 15 fouls, 3 saves

Goals:
• Atlanta, Daniel Ríos, 1'
• Atlanta, Saba Lobjanidze, 38'
• New York City, Mounsef Bakrar, 65'
• New York City, Talles Magno, 82' (pk)

Attendance: 42,524

Wrong foot forward

The game couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. Just 21 seconds into the match, Atlanta striker Daniel Ríos found a way to score against one of the best defenses in the league when he found himself with the ball at his feet in front of the mouth of the goal.

It was the fastest goal in the history of United.

The eight-pass sequence caught the entire New York City squad off-guard:

It brought hope to an Atlanta with low expectations for the night. After all, this was a club that fired former head coach Gonzalo Pineda in early June, and sold top-scorer Georgios Giakoumakis to Cruz Azul 13 days later. Earlier this month, they sold playmaker Thiago Almada for an MLS-record fee reported to be worth up to $30 million.

It's safe to say that Atlanta are in the middle of a rebuild. The announced attendance at The Benz was 42,524, but you would have trouble finding 10,000 fans in the stands. Tickets to the match were selling on the secondary market for as little as $5.

But this diminished Atlanta were facing a depleted New York City who were without five starters, including Santiago Rodríguez, James Sands, and Thiago Martins. This was a team missing their spine.

The Starting XI included two teenagers and two 20-year-olds: The average age of the squad that took the field was just 22.5 years old. It is certainly the youngest Starting XI that New York City have played in the past two years, and possibly in club history. That inexperience showed in Atlanta's opening goal.

And it surfaced again 27 minutes later, when Saba Lobjanidze jumped on a ball knocked down by Freese, beating the goalkeeper and three defenders to score Atlanta's second goal of the night.

Atlanta United 2 - 2 New York City: Rate the players
Disastrous start to the game, sweet second half: A heavily rotated New York City FC salvaged a 2-2 draw at The Benz.
Hudson River BlueHudson River Blue Staff

Key substitutions — again

Throughout this season, Cushing has proved to be adept at making key substations that can change a game. Tonight was no different. Cushing brought on Maxi Moralez at halftime, and the 37-year-old player brought some composure to a New York City attack that had looked flat up until then.

Then Cushing changed the shape of the squad by taking off left-back Christian McFarlane, and moving from a back-four to a back-three, and bringing in Talles Magno on the left wing, and overloading an Atlanta defense that had held firm in the first half.

Courtesy g+ GameFlow

It worked. New York City not only dominated possession, they controlled the pace of the game. Bakrar's goal in the 65th minute finished a sequence that had the Atlanta defense looking confused and outclassed.

Talles Magno deserves much of the credit for New York City's dominance. The winger was commanding on the left: The tall, technical Brazilian brings an unpredictable creativity to the attack. When he picks up the ball, you never know what he's going to do next: Dribble, pass, wait for the opposition to expose themselves.

On this night, Talles Magno looked like a different caliber of player when compared to the others on the field. Here was the winger who made the MLS "22 Under 22" for two years in a row, the player who was ranked the fifth-most valuable in the league just last year.

And here was a Talles Magno who delivered on his designated player status. First, he drew a foul inside the box, earning a penalty kick.

Then, he converted the penalty, sending the veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan the wrong way. It was the ice-cold penalty of a professional.

It was Talles Magno's first goal since November 10, 2023, when New York City faced Inter Miami in the ridiculous but enjoyable Noche d'Or, and his first competitive goal since September 20, 2023, when NYCFC beat Orlando City 2-0 at Citi Field.

As for the other goal scorer in that 2-0 win in Queens, it was Bakrar.

Turning back to Talles Magno pays off for NYCFC in Atlanta
When most MLS teams are shorthanded like New York City FC was in Atlanta, they don’t get results. Most MLS teams don’t have the bench options still available to Nick Cushing despite injuries, rotations, and suspensions.
Hudson River BlueAndrew Leigh

One for the road

New York City have just one more away match left in this four-game road trip when they face Orlando City this coming Saturday in the tropical heat of central Florida.

It will mark the end of the most challenging stretch of games for the team this season. Not only did New York City play four consecutive games on the road, three of them are on short rest.

The results haven't been overly impressive. New York City have a record of 0W-2D-1L so far, with three goals scored and three goals allowed. But a draw like this one was triage – the team staunched the bleeding – and a point isn't a bad result.

And the team's overall road record so far isn't so bad, either. New York City have an away record of 3W-3D-6L, for 12 points in 12 games. In fact, it's meeting expectations if you go by MLS conventional wisdom that two points at home and one point on the road will comfortably get you into the playoffs. (In fact, that's exactly what the 2021 squad did: That team had an away record of 4W-5D-8L for 17 points in 17 games.)

More to the point, it represents an improvement over last year, when New York City had an away record of 1W-8D-8L, for 11 points in 17 games. It remains to be seen what this edition of the squad will do with their remaining five away games.

Discipline
• Atlanta, Tristan Muyumba, yellow card, foul 61'
• New York City, Justin Haak, yellow card, foul 77'
• Atlanta, Brooks Lenon, yellow card, poor sportsmanship 86'

Officials
• Referee: Lukasz Szpala
• Assistant referees: Gianni Facchini, Kevin Lock
• Fourth official: Alyssa Nichols
• VAR: David Barrie

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