New York City Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing says his team deserved more from Sunday’s last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Orlando City.
An injury-time Tesho Akindele header snatched all three points for the hosts, who had opened the scoring through Júnior Urso before Maxi Moralez equalized shortly after the break.
Cushing admitted the manner of the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow, particularly after the spirited comeback that had drawn his side level in difficult conditions at Exploria Stadium.
“I can’t fault their effort and togetherness, the way they’re committing themselves,” he reflected. “The attitude is excellent.
“Away from home, you’re always going to be put under pressure in the last 15. We have to continue to find a way.
“We set out the game to play our normal game, to win the game. We had a tough start, conceding a goal in the first 10 minutes, but the boys responded incredibly well – we started to dominate the ball and create chances.
“Talles [Magno], Thiago, and Gabriel [Pereira] were attacking the spaces and caused problems and then the weather started to affect the last 10, 15, 20 minutes of the half.
“It’s humid and hot and we’ve had a lot of games. It was a defensive game. We knew we’d be put under pressure because Orlando need the points – they want to push above the line and solidify their place [in the playoff positions].
“In the second half, we asked the boys to keep pushing. We knew we’d be able to move the ball and get into areas and attack the spaces – and the goal was a good example of that.
“Then Thiago has another look, which is a really close one, but he doesn’t get on the end of it and Gabriel has one…
“When you’re looking at a roster as short as ours, we made substitutions, and the boys put in an incredible effort. We just couldn’t get over the line. We just lost on the line with the last corner.
“It was only a matter of weeks ago – Montreal and Dallas – that we were defending positive results. We have to get back to those moments.
“When you get injuries and it’s starting to affect the squad, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got. We know this roster is capable of getting points and we should have got a point today.”
A first-half injury to Thiago Martins midway through the first half proved further cause for frustration for the Boys in Blue. Cushing said the extent of the knock is still to be determined but highlighted the performance of deputizing center-back Tayvon Gray as a major positive.
“The concern is the injuries we have,” he conceded. “They’re big injuries: Keaton Parks, Alex Callens and we’ve lost Thiago Martins today.
“I don’t know how serious Thiago Martins’ injury is – whether it’s a reoccurrence of the last injury. I’ll leave it with the medical team.”
On Gray’s display, he continued: “We had nobody else but I thought he was really good.
“When you’re working with a short roster, it’s difficult to have to roll these guys out. At the end of games, we’re making substitutions but the players are playing a lot of football.
“You want to have the perfect opportunity to change the game in the perfect moment. We made the substitution before Talles had to come.
“We had to react and we do have some changes – we’re making a lot of changes at the moment in the way we set the team up and the way we try to see games out.
“We just have to get through this period.”
With Wednesday’s home visit of DC United, New York have little time to dwell on Sunday’s result and Cushing added that while it will be e tight turnaround, the squad and backroom staff will do all they can to return to winning ways at the earliest opportunity.
“We’ve got to get the guys we’ve got fresh,” he stated. “We’ve got to get them back to the hotel, get some food in them, and get some sleep because it’s the same guys we have to roll out again on Wednesday.
“We’re in a difficult period at the moment but it’s onto the DC game. We’ll recover the team and try to get three points.”
