NYCFC Goals:
LA Galaxy Goals: Kamara 10mins, Hilliard-Arce 70', Husidic 90'
Ronald Matarrita was controversially sent-off as a spirited NYCFC went down to a 3-0 friendly defeat to the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center.
A man down for more than half the game, City were unable to find a response to Ola Kamara's opener on 10', succumbing to a 3-0 defeat after Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Baggio Husidic made good on LA's one man advantage by scoring the second and third goals on 70' and 90' respectively.
A day on from the 1-1 tie at LAFC's UCLA base, Patrick Vieira unsurprisingly changed up his XI entirely, bringing in a fresh lineup of players, including new signings Brad Stuver, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and Jesus Medina.
The NYCFC Head Coach also included young Vini Lansade, who led the line for the Boys in Blue at the apex of the front line ahead of Maxi Moralez, Kwame Awuah and, a player Vini will be aiming to someday emulate, James Sands.
The 17-year old from Curitiba, Brazil had the first opportunity of the night inside the opening 5', glancing a header wide of the target after neat work down the left side from Matarrita and Medina.
It was then Galaxy's turn to get on the front foot and, after Stuver gave City a reprieve with an excellent point-blank save from an acrobatic Giovani Dos Santos effort, Ola Kamara smashed LA in front after reacting first when a shot came back off the crossbar.
A rocky few minutes for the Boys in Blue followed but Vieira's men soon recovered as Moralez came to the fore, dropping deep to orchestrate and dictate the tempo, allowing City to take control of the ball and begin asking questions of the Galaxy backline.
Medina also took on this mantel, earning a free-kick on the edge of the area on 33' which Moralez curled towards the bottom corner but Bingham was there to make the save.
At the other end, Stuver made his second good save from Dos Santos of the night, getting down to his right at the near post and tipping it wide before the night's defining moment on the stroke of halftime when Matarrita was shown a straight red card for a fairly innocuous-looking challenge.
The Costa Rican appeared to slip as he went in on Romain Alessandrini, resulting in a challenge which looked like an in-Regular Season yellow card at the very most - however, referee Drew Fischer brandished a red card with no hesitation, distorting a game which was all about getting valuable minutes into legs.
Awuah dropped in to occupy the vacated left back spot for the second half and Vieira used the opportunity to give more experience to Academy prospects Justin Haak, Dante Polvara and Joe Scally, who all got 20 minute run-outs.
All acquitted themselves well once again but it was LA who scored the second goal of the night on 70' when Tomas Hilliard -Arce headed past substitute goalkeeper Andre Rawls who had no chance as the effort flew past him into the upper 90, before Husidic tapped in with the last kick of the game to make it three.
Next up, NYCFC take on Atletico Club de San Luis on February 13 - a game which you can only see by attending our Watch Party at Calico Jack's.
All in all, a result defined by one controversial moment but a good run-out for the Boys in Blue who have more meaningful occasions emerging over the horizon.
READ:How to Watch NYCFC in Preseason 2018
NYCFC XI: Stuver (Rawls 64'), Abdul-Salaam, Ibeagha, Callens (Felix 72'), Matarrita (sent-off 42'), Sands (Haak 64'), Awuah, Moralez (Polvara 72'), Tajouri-Shradi (Shaver 82'), Medina (Scally 64'), Lansade (Villa 72')
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