New York City FC and the New England Revolution played to a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium, a result that steadies the ship a bit for NYCFC after a depressing loss in Houston. Talles Magno’s thunderous headed goal off a corner kick in the 80th minute canceled out a 70th-minute strike from New England talisman Carles Gil. The hosts also had a Mitja Ilenic own goal somewhat controversially disallowed by VAR in the 61st minute, but it was NYCFC who played mostly on the front foot throughout the 90 minutes.
The Pigeons created more chances and looked much more like their “old selves” than they did in their dreary performance last weekend, and should come away feeling like the result was both fair and a positive stepping stone as they look to find solutions for their inconsistent attack.
New England came out the stronger team to start the second half and (thanks to VAR) twice appeared to open the scoring, but Bruce Arena’s side was never able to wrest full control of the match away from a determined, dogged NYCFC. Nick Cushing seemed to push all the right buttons to ensure his team left Gillette Stadium with at least a point, using all five of his substitutes and to great effect. The composition of Cushing’s bench was not without controversy, as winger Thiago Andrade was notably absent from the match-day squad as unconfirmed rumors swirl that his days with NYCFC are coming to an end as he negotiates a transfer to Club Athletico Paranaense.
No Thiago, no problem, as it was sub Gabriel Pereira who whipped in the dangerous corner kick that was headed home by Talles Magno to earn NYCFC that valuable road point. It was goal that also brought with it a sigh of relief, as it’s the first time NYCFC have scored away from home since Pereira’s goal in Chicago way back on Matchday 2. In the end, this was a draw that felt more like a win than a loss, and a potential building block ahead of three straight home matches starting with a vist from Atlanta United on Matchday 7.
Game Stats
NYCFC: 14 shots, 3 on goal, 58.1% possession, 528 passes, 86.5% accuracy, 12 fouls
New England: 12 shots, 3 on goal, 41.9% possession, 376 passes, 81.9% accuracy, 10 fouls
Talles rises to the occasion
Much rightly has been made of Talles Magno’s ill fit in the striker role NYCFC often asks him to fill. In New England, Gabe Segal finally made his MLS debut at striker, allowing Magno to slide out to his more comfortable, preferred wide left position. Even back in that wide midfield role, the Brazilian appeared to have the freedom to float anywhere he wanted on the pitch, as long as it meant getting on the ball and pushing play forward for his teammates. To Talles’ credit, he was an active attacking force all night long, finding himself involved in the build-up to nearly all the good chances NYCFC created at Gillette Stadium.
Magno played a nice cutback pass dangerously into the path of Matias Pellegrini in the 25th minute, but New England blocked the initial chance from fully reaching Pellegrini, and Gabe Segal put a subsequent shot from an awkward angle well wide of goal. That was one of NYCFC’s better scoring chances of the first half, but Magno was not done.
In the 58th minute, Gabe Segal pressed New England into turning the ball over in their own end, Santiago Rodriguez collected the turnover, and set Magno up for a promising look that was ultimately blocked wide for a corner.
It was deserved that Magno would be the player to break through with a goal for NYCFC, though it was something of an uncharacteristic goal for him, coming with his head and directly from a corner. Magno outleaped two New England defenders and powered the ball past the Revolution’s impressive goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, a well-deserved reward for an impressive attacking shift from the 20-year-old Brazilian.
Still waiting for Vintage Santi
While Talles Magno offered many glimpses of his tantalizing attacking potential against New England, the same could not be said for his fellow attacking Designated Player Santiago Rodriguez. NYCFC’s forward progress seemed to stop when the ball fell to the feet of the Uruguayan, who was unable to make that successful final pass that would open up any scoring chances for teammates. NYCFC tried to play a lot of one-touch passes right at the top of New England’s 18-yard-box, and Santi was consistently unable to make the right pass when he found himself in possession close to the New England goal. Santi thus far has not been able to rediscover the best of his form since re-joining NYCFC shortly into the 2023 season. I wrote after the Houston loss that NYCFC would have a hard time producing much in attack if both Talles Magno and Santi Rodriguez struggled like they did against the Dynamo. A week later against the Revolution, Magno stepped his game up, while we’re left to still wait for Santi to really find his footing in this reworked version of the NYCFC attack.
Substitutes shine
Nick Cushing has, at times, been criticized for being too slow to turn to his substitutes bench when it seems like his team needs a shuffle. That criticism could not be levied against NYCFC’s head coach during the trip to New England. Cushing didn’t like how things were progressing 20 minutes into the second half and promptly unleashed a bold triple-sub. That 65th minute mega-swap saw Matias Pellegrini, Keaton Parks, and Gabe Segal replaced with Gabriel Pereira, Alfredo Morales, and Richy Ledezma–and it proved to be an inspired decision. Pereira and Ledezma both contributed as the NYCFC attack chased and got its equalizer, then continued pushing the Revs in search of a late road winner. It was a Pereira corner kick that was put on a platter for Talles Magno to bury for that equalizer, while Ledezma always looked to move the ball forward when he found himself pulling the strings in the game’s dying minutes. Two substitute appearances in, it does look like Ledezma will be a positive addition to the mix for NYCFC as either a wide midfielder or a central attacking mid.
Cushing also swapped out both his fullbacks on the night, with NYCFC II stalwart Stephen Turnbull putting in a particularly impressive shift at right back after Mitja Ilenic needed to come off in the 69th minute. Ilenic seemed to be favoring an injury for long portions of the match, presumably one he picked up during his very busy international break that saw him play three matches for Slovenia’s youth squad. Ilenic was forced into starting duty after Tayvon Gray was mysteriously ruled out with a “lower leg injury” just hours before kickoff, and clearly seemed to be operating at less than 100%.
The fact that Turnbull stepped up and comfortably saw out the final 20 minutes and change on the road against a tough Eastern Conference rival has to be a huge boost for both the player’s confidence, and Cushing’s confidence in the player. With both first-choice right backs now carrying clear injury concerns, might we be witnessing the dawn of The Turnbull Era? Kevin O’Toole also subbed in at left back for Braian Cufre for the match’s final 10 minutes, and was himself quite active, though he seemed to linger too long on the ball while finding himself in a few dangerous attacking positions. The substitutes likely all gave their manager more confidence in their abilities to change games when called upon, underscoring Cushing’s claim that the result vs. New England was “a real team point earned.”
Goals:
New England, C. Gil 70’
NYCFC, Magno 80′
Discipline:
NYCFC, Mitja Ilenic, yellow card foul 32’
Attendance: 18,521
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, Brian Dunn
Fourth Official: Sergii Boiko
VAR Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Assistant VAR Referee: Joshua Patlak
