New York City FC (NYCFC) was left to rue a hatful of missed chances as Pascal Jansen’s side slumped to a second consecutive MLS defeat in a 2-1 loss against Charlotte FC at Citi Field Saturday night.
Idan Toklomati’s well-taken goal early in the second half proved decisive for the visitors, with Kerwin Vargas adding a second goal late on to put daylight between the sides in a game that NYCFC largely dominated.
A stunning effort from Nicolás Fernádez Mercau in second-half stoppage time proved to be a mere consolation as NYCFC slumped to a second successive league defeat and a third in four MLS games. They are also without a win in that four-game spell.
Jansen’s side registered a staggering 23 shots to Charlotte’s seven but lacked a killer instict on a frustrating night for the Boys in Blue in Queens, with Charlotte displaying a clinical edge in a ruthless second half display.
Jansen attributed Saturday night’s defeat to a lack of quality in front of goal.
“The quality in finishing was the difference,” Jansen said Saturday night. “We had multiple opportunities to score more goals.”
The hosts dominated the game by almost every metric, especially in an opening period where Charlotte failed to register a single shot of any variety.
Jansen’s side, by contrast, had ten shots in the first half but simply could not find a way past Kristijan Kahlina in the Charlotte goal.
The Slovenian ‘keeper saved well from Fernández Mercau from a narrow angle in the first real opening of the game on 24 minutes, with Hannes Wolf seeing his follow-up effort blocked as it headed toward the bottom corner.
Kai Trewin looked set to score his first NYCFC four minutes later but also saw his close-range effort blocked away after meeting a cutback from Wolf.
Wolf then spurned an even better opportunity just past the half-hour mark when he met a Maxi Moralez cross at the back post, but his shot lacked power and Kahlina got down well to claw the effort away.
It seemed like only a matter of time before the hosts broke the deadline, with Agustín Ojeda powering a header against the upright after meeting a Kevin O’Toole cross.
But it was Charlotte who took the lead against the run of play nine minutes into the second half, with Toklomati slotting coolly beyond the onrushing Matt Freese after being teed up by Harry Tofolo. It marked the visitors’ first shot of the game.
NYCFC continued to lay siege to the Charlotte goal after that sucker punch but continued to toil.
Kahlina produced an excellent save to deny a curling Moralez effort as it headed toward the top corner on 66 minutes, while Raul Gustavo headed high and wide after rising high to meet a Moralez cross from close range three minutes later.
Substitute Talles Magno injected more intensity off the bench as NYCFC pressed for an elusive equalizer late on, but Charlotte showed their clinical edge once more to put the game to bed when Vargas found himself in space on the edge of the area and guided a curling effort beyond the despairing dive of Freese.
Fernández Mercau replied almost instantly with a sensational 25-yard effort that effort that flew into the top corner, with Kahlina for once left rooted to the spot.
But it was too little, too late for the hosts as Charlotte saw the game out to leap frog New York in the table.
“Conceding that second one the way we did, that was a tough one. Because that means it’s probably over,” Jansen said.
NYCFC is without main striker Alonso Martinez until the summer as the Costa Rican forward recovers from a ruptured ACL, with the club failing to add a forward in the recent winter transfer market.
Jansen, however, is not concerned about his side’s recent struggles in front of goal and does not believe the club made a mistake by remaining quiet in the transfer market.
“We created multiple chances. It will worry me if we don’t create these moments anymore. And today, unfortunately, the quality in finishing was below our standards because we had quite a few that we should put away,” he said.
He added that NYCFC scored eight goals in a three-game run earlier in the season, which he believes proves that his side has the required firepower in front of goal.
“We’ve proven that we haven’t got that problem in previous games.”
Saturday night’s result sees NYCFC drop to 7th in the Eastern Conference, with a game against FC Cincinnati to come at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.