NYCFC dropped its first points since the World Cup Break in a home match against Toronto FC on Friday night.
Following two straight wins with two-plus goals scored, this misstep will hinder New York’s late-season push, as they could have secured fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a win tonight.
The Boys in the Blue got off to a hot start, scoring early in the game as they took the lead before Toronto was able to settle into the match.
In the sixth minute, forward Benie Traore skipped past two defenders in the midfield before playing Augustin Ojeda through on goal. Toronto Defender Richie Laryea pulled the attacker down, resulting in a yellow card and a penalty for NYCFC. The team’s top scorer, Nicolás Fernández Mercau, slotted the spot kick in the bottom-right corner, bringing his tally to 13 on the season, tied for the most in MLS.
After the goal, both teams traded possession in an up-and-down game, but NYCFC looked more dangerous due to dynamic play from their attackers, Talles Magno and Traore. The game’s quick tempo was broken up by some chippiness from both teams, resulting in three first-half yellow cards and over 6 minutes of injury time.
Toronto FC began knocking on the door late into the first half after a missed hit clearance in the 34th minute left space in the box for Toronto FC attacker Dániel Sallói, who hit it over the bar.
Toronto FC equalized at the edge of the first half in the 52nd minute after a mistake at the back from NYCFC captain Thiago Martins forced a last-ditch tackle from defender James Sands, which fell to Toronto FC attacker Dániel Sallói, who forced a save from goalkeeper Matt Freese that rebounded to Toronto’s Đorđe Mihailović, who cleaned up the move finding the back of the net to bring both teams level going into halftime.
“Toronto had the goal just before halftime, so they gained a little more confidence. And that is what you see throughout the game, because you do not see a team, in my opinion, that is suffering from 11 games that they did not win. But we gave them way too much confidence in this game. So that is something that is on our end,” head coach Pascal Jansen said.
NYCFC got off to a quick start in the second half after Gray’s ball into the box led to a free header for Traore, who missed the target in the 47th minute. Magno forced a corner from a close-range shot. The corner’s delivery led to chaos in the box, which resulted in a shot off the post from NYCFC midfielder Andrés Perea in the 54th minute.
New York would continue to press for the go-ahead goal when Traore was played through on goal but taken down outside the box with a yellow card offense for Toronto midfielder Niklas Dorsch. The free kick led to a shot in the box from Sands that called goalkeeper Luka Gavran into action.
In the 67th minute, Toronto bit back after the onslaught of NYCFC chances when a ball back across the box was not dealt with, leaving space for Sallói to fire a shot from the edge of the area, forcing Freese down to the bottom right corner of his net to make the save.
In the 83rd minute, Fernandez won the ball deep in the attacking third, and it fell to Pererea in a promising position, who took a powerful shot from outside the box that was routinely saved by Gavran.
NYCFC continued to make chances for themselves towards the end of the match but could not apply the finishing touches.
New York is still unbeaten since returning from the break but this draw leaves them on 26 points in 5th place with more matches played than the rest of the playoff contenders.
MLS goes on pause this upcoming week as teams will shift their focus to the Leagues Cup.
“Every game is a lesson in itself. So tonight is also a lesson. As I mentioned, if you play decently up until the penalty, that is one thing, but you have to continue playing like that or even step on the gas just a little bit more when you see your opponent is down and is struggling to play in a certain way against us. But we did not do that. So that is one of the lessons we have to take with us, and the Leagues Cup is an important tournament,” Jansen said post-game.