New York City FC left Ohio empty-handed Wednesday night after Evander’s stoppage-time winner handed FC Cincinnati a 2-1 victory in a match NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen believed his team deserved more from.
Cincinnati opened the scoring through Kenji Mboma Dem before Brazilian forward Luighi responded with a well-taken volley to send the teams into halftime level. The goal continued an encouraging stretch for the young forward, who has now scored in consecutive starts after converting a penalty against the Philadelphia Union.
NYCFC emerged from halftime aggressively and created several opportunities to take control of the match, only to be denied by Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano. The missed opportunities ultimately proved costly when Evander struck late to take all three points for the hosts.
For Jansen, the frustration was not simply conceding another stoppage-time goal, but failing to turn an impressive second half into a positive result.
“I think we should have rewarded ourselves in the second half,” Jansen said following the match. “There is only one moment they need in order to get themselves back into the game or even get the advantage in this case.”
Jansen acknowledged NYCFC was “a bit naive” with its press leading into Cincinnati’s winner and said his team needed to show greater defensive maturity in preventing the eventual shot. Still, he emphasized that the match could have been decided well before stoppage time, pointing to several major opportunities NYCFC created during its second-half push.
The loss continued an unfortunate trend for New York City, which has now conceded five goals during second-half stoppage time this season, three coming against Cincinnati.
Jansen referenced one of the principles NYCFC has emphasized dating back to last season: “When you can’t win a game, you sure can’t lose it.”
“This should have been a draw or, based on how we played…we should have rewarded ourselves to play a winning game,” he added.
One of the biggest positives was another strong showing from Luighi.
The forward’s goal was his first from open play in MLS and gave him two goals in two starts. Jansen described the finish as “pure class,” praising Luighi’s timing, movement and ability to find the right position in front of goal.
At the same time, Jansen noted that Luighi had two additional opportunities that could have changed the match, framing those misses as part of the young striker’s continued development.
“We’re very happy that he’s part of our project,” Jansen said. “But on the flip side, he also missed two massive opportunities to get us in a better position during this game. And that is also part of development and realizing that you have to put these away as well.”
Defender Tayvon Gray similarly focused on the finer margins after the loss.
Gray said NYCFC’s second-half surge was less about a dramatic tactical adjustment and more about the team’s determination to attack Cincinnati.
“We kind of just went after them,” Gray said. “I thought we created a lot of chances. I thought we should have put a few chances away.”
Asked about NYCFC’s difficulties with late goals this season, Gray pointed directly to execution.
“It comes down to the smallest details,” he said, adding that NYCFC had been “really on the job” for most of the match before ultimately falling short.
Beyond Luighi’s emergence, several NYCFC players reached milestones Wednesday. Nico Fernández Mercau recorded his 25th career MLS goal contribution, while Agustín Ojeda picked up his sixth assist of the season and 15th across MLS regular-season and playoff competition. James Sands made his 125th MLS regular-season appearance, while Kevin O’Toole and Raul Gustavo returned to the starting lineup following injuries.
The defeat leaves NYCFC seventh in the Eastern Conference at 7-8-5 through 20 matches. Despite a second half that showed the attacking intent Jansen wanted, the final lesson was a painful one: creating enough opportunities to win means little if the decisive moments at both ends of the field go the other way.
