New York City FC had only lost one match all season even though they had trailed at the half five times prior, so Jim Curtin and the Union knew the second half would involve a lot of pressure from the hosts. The Union head coach said after the match that he saw a team that was close to becoming a top team in the Eastern Conference but still had a lot of work to do.
“We learn as a group every game that we play,” he said. “I think we learned tonight that we’re very close but we’re not there yet.”
After giving up a second penalty in which Valentin Castellanos, to borrow Curtin’s terms, is “maybe embellishing a little bit and making it worse than it was,” the Union were severely outshot by New York City. “Ale’s entitled to that ball as much as Castellanos is,” Curtin concluded.
Both Curtin and Bedoya noted that soccer involves physical contact, with the Union captain stating that the referee’s reasoning for his decision did not comport with the facts on the field. “It’s not like I pushed him from behind,” Bedoya argued. “It wasn’t even shoulder to shoulder, I was in front of the guy. I just saw the replay right now and the guy throws his head back — it’s a flop.”
Goalscorer Kacper Przybylko agreed, but he also echoed his captain’s sentiment that the referee was far from the only reason the Union lost.
“For me, it wasn’t a penalty. He just used his body to save the ball. It’s unbelievable that this is how they won today,” Przybylko stated. “But you also have to say after the penalty, we did it bad.”
Indeed, the Union didn’t win the second balls or play with the same aggressiveness after the second penalty, a goal that Curtin admitted was “deflating.”
The head coach also suggested that Marco Fabián’s minutes were a good sign for a player that is looking to return to the first eleven soon. “Not the way we wanted him to go into the game,” the head coach said. “But he did his job and he’ll be building fitness now toward being a starter because he’s a starter with this group when he’s fully healthy and fully fit.”
Fabián and Philadelphia are back at it on Wednesday, July 3 when they head south to an Orlando team that is turning in a surprising defensive season.
The action begins at 7:30p.m. ET on PHL17.
