New York City FC lost to referee Armando Villarreal FC Cincinnati on Matchday 15: Here are your NYCFC highlights.
NYCFC were the better team for most of the match. A heavily rotated side with three central defenders outplayed Cincinnati and scored the opening goal of the game only for it to be called back because of a soft foul committed just before Gabriel Pereira buried the ball in the net. It was widely accepted that the goal should stand — supporters of NYCFC, Cincinnati, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Palestine, North Korea, and South Korea all agree that it was a goal. But referee Armando Villarreal’s opinion was the only one that matters, and he decided that it didn’t count.
RELATED: NYCFC 1-3 Cincinnati — Rate the Players
Cincinnati scored their first goal shortly later.
The video highlights here include the iffy yellow cards shown to NYCFC players, the non-calls given to Cincinnati defenders, the questionable penalty awarded to Cincinnati, and so much more. Really, this is one for the Smithsonian’s archive on poor officiating.
RELATED: Ted Lasso Season 3 Finale Review — Richmond, Until Goodbye
RELATED: Why W-D-L is better than W-L-T, and why MLS should change their ways
RELATED: Steve Cohen’s Willets Point casino suffers political setback
There are positives to find in these NYCFC highlights as well. New York City were organized and brought the fight right up until the very end. Defender Stephen Turnbull put in a strong performance in his first appearance in the First Team Starting XI. Tony Alfaro and Tayvon Gray looked comfortable as central defenders working alongside Maxime Chanot.
Unfortunately, the scoreline doesn’t reflect the quality of the play that was on the field.
🧂
As a former Cincinnati resident and Pigeon fan from 2015-2022, I thought the first goal denial was soft and should have been left to count, but felt NYC was the aggressor and committed more violent acts that went lightly punished.