HARRISON, N.J. |David Villa, Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo were named to the Starting XI for the first time together in New York City FC history, but the occasion was spoiled by a 2-0 loss to the Red Bulls in front of 25,219 on Sunday evening at Red Bull Arena.
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored in the first half and Felipe doubled the home side’s lead in the second half as the Red Bulls improved to 10-6-6 (36 points) and New York City FC dropped to 6-11-6 (24 points).
"We’re disappointed to lose three times to any team in this league," midfielder Tommy McNamara said. "It came down to execution; we didn’t execute well enough in the final third today.
"We need to learn from this. We have 11 games left. It’s crunch time to get into the playoffs. If we’re going to make this playoff push we can’t dwell on the past and feel sorry for ourselves. We need to get refocused and realize that Thursday night at home (vs. D.C. United) is a massive game for us."
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The Red Bulls, who won all three regular-season meetings between the clubs, took a one-goal advantage in the 21st minute after a back and forth early going.
Left back Kemar Lawrence whipped in a teasing cross from the left side that sped by an outstretched Jefferson Mena and was set up for Wright-Phillips at the far post for an easy tap in. It was the forward’s 10th goal of the season.
New York City FC had chances to take the lead early on and even following the goal but couldn’t capitalize. In the eighth minute, McNamara received the ball with his back toward net and fed it to an overlapping Angelino streaking down the left side. His cross to the far post was met by Mix Diskerud who rocketed a volley right at Luis Robles, who parried it away to safety.
Mix was at the end of another golden opportunity in the 42nd minute. After a lovely close-range give and go between Andoni Iraola and Villa near the corner flag, the captain snuck by Dax McCarty and served up a ball to the near post to Mix, but his one-timed shot went wide.
The score remained 1-0 at halftime.
"We had a few strong spells attacking and going forward," defender Shay Facey said. "We created quite a few chances, but couldn’t put them away and they came back to bite us in the end. That’s the way it goes sometimes."
The Red Bulls, who beat New York City FC 2-1 on May 10 and 3-1 on June 28, had a chance to double their advantage but the combination of Josh Saunders (four saves) and Angelino kept the home side at bay momentarily in the 84th. Wright-Phillips had a breakaway, but Saunders came out to pressure the forward. Wright-Phillips managed to get past the goalie but lost control as the 18-year-old left back was able to clear the danger.
New York City FC’s good fortune was short lived as Felipe doubled the Red Bulls’ advantage one minute later.
Mike Grella capped a probing run toward the 18-yard box by sliding the ball to his left. Felipe gained possession near the corner of the 18 and drove at Iraola before snapping off a shot to the near post that beat both Facey and Saunders for a 2-0 lead.
New York City FC return to action on Thursday night against Eastern Conference-leading D.C. United. Kickoff is 7 p.m. ET from Yankee Stadium (YES Network, 970 AM, WQBU).
"We need to win games," Lampard said. "In the position we're in now we need to win the majority of games we have left and I don’t see a reason why we can’t. I’m very confident in the team. We’re going to get better as the weeks go on. We need to pick up the momentum. A couple of wins then your confidence changes and you’re in a different spot."
