New York City have now had two winless months, going through five games in May without getting three points in one game (although there were a couple of draws). Manchester City also paid their first visit to the American counterparts, as The English Blues were on their post-season tour of North America.
The month got off to a poor start, with Seattle Sounders coming to the Bronx. The Washington side arrived after a good start to the season saw them sitting pretty near the top of the Western Conference, and they showed that class as they took another 3 points back to the West Coast. Two former Premier League men, Obafemi Martins (2) and Clint Dempsey, were on the scoresheet for Seattle, with Mehdi Ballouchy gaining the only reprieve for the home side, as he equalised following Dempsey’s opener. New York finished the game with 10 men, after Kwame Watson-Siriboe was sent off for a second yellow. City loanee Shay Facey got 70 minutes before being replaced by RJ Allen, the new signing.
City then faced one of the biggest games in their young history – the first New York derby, against the Red Bulls away. The Blues went in on poor form, as has been the case for weeks, and went behind early on thanks to former Manchester City man Bradley Wright-Philips scoring from close range. The Red Bulls then went down to 10 men after Matt Miazga received a second yellow on 35 minutes. The Blues couldn’t capitalise, and Wright-Philips would double the hosts’ lead early in the second half. Substitute Patrick Mullins got one back for New York City with 15 minutes to go, but they couldn’t score again and were condemned to another defeat.
Back on home turf for another game against Chicago Fire (following the 1-0 defeat in Ohio in April), New York City got their first points in nearly a month thanks to a dramatic late equaliser. The game started as many would have expected it to – with The Fire taking a 2-0 lead before the 27th minute. Razvan Cocis opened the scoring with a looping header following a free-kick from former Wigan Athletic man Shaun Maloney, before Jeff Larentowicz doubled the visitors’ lead with a penalty, which also saw RJ Allen sent off. The lead was cut in half moments before the break, much to the relief of the home support. David Villa took a shot from range, which was parried by Sean Johnson, although the rebound was netted by Mehdi Ballouchy to turn the half-time score to 2-1 Chicago. Then, as if by magic, Khiry Shelton ensured a share of the points in injury time, following a brilliant save from Saunders. David Villa found Shelton in space, who looked collected as he slid the ball home for 2-2, sending the fans inside Yankee Stadium wild. It moved NYCFC on to 7 points for the season.
New York then made the trip to Utah to face Real Salt Lake in the penultimate game of the month. The home side could have taken the lead with either of two chances from Devon Sandoval, before Mix Diskerud hit the bar with a shot from range just after the 15-minute mark. Sandoval was involved again when Real Salt Lake eventually did take the lead, as he headed John Stertzer in on goal, before the midfielder put his effort comfortably past Josh Saunders. The hosts doubled the lead just minutes after half-time, with Alvaro Saborio heading in a cross from Luke Mulholland to seal the three points for Real Salt Lake.
For the final game of the month, The Blues headed back to New York City and Yankee Stadium for a match against Texas’ Houston Dynamo. They once again failed to get the win, but did seal a point in front of crowd with contained Manuel Pellegrini and the Manchester City squad. Dyanmo took the lead on 16 minutes thanks to Will Bruin, who put in the ball after David Horst headed down a corner kick, which Bruin almost immediately scored. Half an hour later, Adam Nemec won NYCFC a penalty for handball, and David Villa stepped up to take it. The Spaniard encountered little trouble in placing the ball in the bottom corner, past the diving hand of Tyler Deric. Both teams had good chances to win the game, with Jeb Brovsky forcing a fantastic save from Deric to keep out a flying header from the defender. Neither team could find a winner, and the points were eventually shared as New York City extended their run of no wins to 11 games.
With another New York derby coming up in June, The Blues will be keen to try and regain some remnants of form going into their fourth month of history. They also face games against Philadelphia Union for the third time this season, and against two Canadian sides – Montreal Impact and Toronto.
