Philadelphia Union II Goals: Anderson 11’, Pariano 45+1’ (PK), Davis 52’, Westfield 64’
New York City FC II Goals: Calheira 21’, Jiménez 28’, Shore 32’
Quick Read
New York City FC II suffered a narrow defeat on the road against Philadelphia Union II. A busy first half saw the two teams share five goals, as Philadelphia took the lead after 11 minutes. Goals for City in the 21st, 28th, and 32nd minute from Taylor Calheira, Jonathan Jiménez, and Jonathan Shore would hand them a 3-1 advantage before a penalty from Nick Pariano halved City's advantage. A second-half strike from Eddie Davis saw the two teams level in the 52nd minute. The hosts would take the lead in the 64th minute via Francis Westfield. Westfield's header would be the last goal of the game and meant City fell to a 4-3 defeat on the road.
Match Recap
A trip to Pennsylvania awaited New York City FC II on Monday afternoon as they took on Philadelphia Union II.
Head Coach Matt Pilkington made six changes to the team that fell to Toronto FC II last time out, as Rio Hope-Gund, Klevis Haxhari, Drew Baiera, Jonathan Shore, and Jonathan Jiménez all came into the team.
A meeting between the highest and second-highest scoring teams in the Eastern Conference was always likely to deliver goals, and so it was no surprise when the deadlock was broken after 11 minutes.
Philadelphia’s Markus Anderson put the hosts ahead, but that lead would last just ten minutes thanks to Taylor Calheira.
The striker’s smart run to the near post allowed him to meet Chris Tiao’s cross and lift it delicately over a helpless Philadelphia goalkeeper.
City were keen to build on the equalizer and they found a second goal in the 28th minute after Máximo Carrizo’s initial shot was parried into the path of Jiménez – the forward slamming the ball home for his first goal since early June.
The visitors were firing on all cylinders and they would find a third five minutes later after some brilliant play by Baiera down the right eventually resulted in the ball finding its way to Piero Elias on the edge of the area.
His cute pass through the legs of the defender teed up Shore to lash home a strike into the bottom corner.
Philly were handed a lifeline on the stroke of halftime after Hope-Gund conceded a penalty. Nick Pariano stepped up to take the spot kick and calmly converted it to make the score 3-2.
The second period showed no sign of letting up in terms of goals, with Eddie Davis drawing the two sides level in the 52nd minute.
Philly almost took the lead minutes later after a fast breakaway. Davis was the man handed the chance to score but he was denied thanks to a great save from Alex Rando.
City would fall behind in the 64th minute after Francis Westfield headed a freekick from Cavan Sullivan past Rando.
Pilkington would turn to his bench for the first time in the 69th minute as he introduced Ronald Arévalo in place of Elias.
The winger almost drew City level in the 77th minute, but his diving header landed just wide of the goal.
A second change for City would arrive in the 83rd minute as Camil Azzam Ruiz replaced Jiménez in attack. As the clock ticked toward the 90 minute mark the game became stretched with the visitors desperate to find an equalizer.
Unfortunately, despite a spirited effort from City's players they could not find an equalizer and were forced to accept defeat on the road.
How We Lined Up
What's Next
Next up for New York City FC II is a game against FC Cincinnati 2 on September 29. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00PM ET.
