After a fairly successful first competitive month of football, New York City didn’t enjoy anywhere near as much success in April, as their inexperience as a team showed in the four MLS games in the month, two at home in the Bronx and two on the road.
After the international break, New York City began the month already in poor form, and continued that at Philadelphia Union’s PPL Park on April 11th. City had finished March with a 1-0 home loss against Sporting KC, and fared no better against Philadelphia. After starting better, the Union took the lead following a good move, with Pfeffer able to put in from close-range to put the home side in front. Nemec soon had the ball in the net in retaliation, but the goal was disallowed after Villa took it out of play. 10 minutes into the second half, New York equalised via the World Cup winner Villa. Good play looked like it might have come to nothing, but a slip from Maurice Edu gave Villa the chance to nip in and put the ball into an empty net to level the game at 1-1. City looked like they might have got away with a point, but The U managed to nick the win at the death thanks to Nogueira. Josh Saunders tried to punch a cross away, but it only found its way to Nogueira near the penalty spot, who wasted no time in putting the ball home to break City hearts and make sure The Blues would start April with a 2-1 loss.
However, City had their chance to take revenge just 5 days later, when Philadelphia came to Yankee Stadium for New York’s second game of the month. And it looked like City might be about to do just that, thanks to Mehdi Ballouchy. On 57 minutes, the former New York Red Bulls man picked up the ball on the edge of the box in the right channel, before stepping inside and unleashing a shot past John McCarthy to put The Blues in the lead at home. However, a late goal would once again hit City hard, with it this time coming from C.J. Sapong. The ball was crossed in from deep, and the cross was then nodded down to Sapong who had little difficulty putting the ball past Saunders to ensure a share of the points in the Bronx, as much as City could have done with the points.
The Blues stayed on home turf for their third outing of April, with Portland Timbers making the trip to New York with City looking for their first win in five games by this point. Whilst there were signs of improvement, a depleted side missing the likes of David Villa, Jason Hernandez and Mix Diskerud once again lost out to their opponents, with The Timbers leaving the East Coast with all three points. Once again, the goal came late thanks to Dairon Asprilla. The hosts failed to stop a dangerous run by Darlington Nagbe until it was too late, and eventually the ball fell to Asprilla on the edge of the area. His shot was defelected, and found its way past Josh Saunders and into the net. City were unable to retaliate, leaving their record for the month at two losses and a draw.
They had one final opportunity to rectify that record in late April with a visit to Chicago Fire. The Blues were still depleted but less so than in the previous game; however, Villa was still missing, and Josh Saunders joined him as an absentee due to suspension, which meant Ryan Meara made his debut for the club. It may well have ended up being a debut Meara would want to forget, having been at fault for Chicago’s goal on 20 minutes. He slid to keep a ball in play, but unfortunately it wriggled away from him as he managed to keep it in, and David Accam was on hand to take it and put the ball into an almost empty net. To make matters worse, Andrew Jacobson was sent off moments later, which was an incident that NYCFC never really recovered from. They ended the game as 1-0 losers, which confirmed they wouldn’t end April without a win.
They’ll need to find a way to remedy that poor form in the coming month though, with some tough fixtures and a dire need for improvement. The Blues currently lie 8th in the Eastern Conference, on just 6 points and 8 off of New England Revolution in top (ironically, New England are the only team City have beaten so far). However, City also need to regain some form for the vital games in the coming weeks. The Blues have 5 games in May, which is a fine opportunity to pick up some points. Despite that, all eyes are on May 11th – the first New York derby against the Red Bulls, at the Red Bull Arena.
