Pigeons show up offensively too late as NYCFC falls 2-1 to Minnesota United | OneFootball

For the first time in 2025, New York City FC played one of their few Sunday games.  Unfortunately, the afternoon was clouded by the gloomy weather, so it was not the best day for a match.  However, it did not matter whether someone was at Yankee Stadium or watching from home: the expectation was to win.

Last week, it looked like NYCFC was going to earn their first road win of the year.  Instead, they gave up a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3 after defensive mishaps that cannot happen again.  That is why the Pigeons were under so much pressure to win.

But the opponent Minnesota United FC, who the Bronx side faced in the preseason and won, has not been an easy side to play in 2025.  They were 3-1-2 entering the match and sat in fourth place in the Western Conference.  The Loons also beat the home side the last time they played in 2023.

NYCFC might have had the majority of the possession and had 22 shots.  However, their inability to be threatening for most of the match saw them lose 2-1 to Minnesota United.

NYCFC suffers another poor loss

Unfortunately, NYCFC began the first half in the worst way possible and picked up from where they left off in Atlanta.  About 60 seconds after the starting whistle, Tani Oluwaseyi received a perfect pass from Joaquín Pereyra to score a brilliant goal that Matt Freese could not do anything to stop.  This subsequently set the tone for the Pigeons, but it was not due to Minnesota dominating the fixture.

Rather, NYCFC dominated the possession, but were extremely dull in the attack.  In the first half, they failed to get a shot on target.  The Pigeons struggled immensely with their play and some players were just playing poorly.

To make matters worse, NYCFC gave up the second goal in the 29th minute.  The Loons had a set piece but took it short.  Will Trapp received the ball, and he shot it on the ground through players, leading to bad luck for the Pigeons.  The ball deflected off of Keaton Parks and went into the goal.

In stoppage time of the first half, the Boys in Blues earned a penalty kick due to a foul on Alonso Martínez.  There was a VAR review, but the call was upheld.  However, the Costa Rican botched the kick when he went to take it, hitting the top bar to force his side to enter halftime down by two goals.

Meanwhile, Pascal Jansen was clearly not happy with what he was seeing, for he decided to make substitutions in the first half.  Subbing out players before halftime without any injury is rare, but Jansen did it.  Mounsef Bakrar and Strahinja Tanasijević both came on in the 40th and Julián Fernández and Birk Risa came out.

At first, they were questionable players to bring on, but the Pigeons had a bit of a surge at the end of the first half and the start of the second.  Still, NYCFC struggled to get solid shots on target that would threaten Minnesota.

Plus, Bakrar was still being Bakrar, where he had a chance in the 57th minute, but had his shot blocked on one he could have done more.  Then a minute later, his shot was deflected wide when he again could have taken a better shot.

The Boys in Blue kept on attacking though, but they kept on going wide or over the goal.  There were also issues with the NYCFC players not getting accurate passes and crosses into the box, making it easier for Minnesota to clear the ball.  Some attacking sequences were threatening in the build-up, but the threat was lackluster.

Embarrassingly, NYCFC did not get a shot on target until the 77th minute.  The shot came from Martínez, but it was an easy save for the Loons’ Dayne St. Clair.

The offensive effort finally saw some success though.  In the 89th minute, Parks got one back, scoring on a rebound after the shot from Martínez was saved. It was the midfielder's first goal of the season, but was not enough.

At the same time, credit must be given when it is due.  Minnesota was great defensively.  They forced the Pigeons to take bad shots and were compact in the box and in front of their goal.  The Loons closed them down in the box and intervened in pass attempts.  They allowed one goal, but that was it.

In the end, the poor yet plentiful offensive effort of NYCFC and the defensive effort of the visitors led to the loss.  The team woke up too late when they finally became a true threat, but there was not enough time.  But this was another poor game; there is no other explanation.