Photo by Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports

By RYAN TOLMICH

For the first few weeks of their inaugural MLS campaign, New York City FC has put a major focus on starting games on the right foot, but if the last two games are any evidence, it is the closing of a contest that is proving to be the team’s undoing.

After conceding a stoppage-time winner in last Saturday’s clash with the Philadelphia Union, NYCFC repeated essentially the same feat Thursday, slumping to a 1-1 draw due to an 86th minute equalizer from C.J. Sapong.

For goalkeeper Josh Saunders, Thursday’s result was as frustrating as could be. Two blown games against the same team are sure to test the morale of any team, something Saunders alluded to after Thursday’s draw despite the positives to take from the first 85 minutes of the game.

“It’s tough. It felt like a loss,” Saunders said of Thursday’s result. “We got a point out of it if you want to take any positives. It kind of keeps things status quo between us and Philly in the Eastern Conference.

“Any time you play back to back you want a little bit of vengeance, especially if you lose it late. It is tough to take another goal late, but it gives us something to work on. I thought we did very well. We did well in the first half, a lot of good chances, just have to be a little more efficient in the final third and in the defensive third late.”

Goalscorer Mehdi Ballouchy echoed Saunders’ sentiments, stating that NYCFC were the better team in the contest.

After a trying opening few minutes, NYCFC settled down midway through the first half, with momentum continuing until Ballouchy’s finish early in the second half.

Despite the finish Ballouchy was notably frustrated with the performance, one that he felt his team deserved much more from.

“It’s disappointing for us to get a point out of the game. I thought we played much better,” Ballouchy said. “We talked about not coming in slow in the first half, and I thought we played really well in the first half. We moved the ball. They had trouble coming into our half, so from that sense I thought we did well.”

NYCFC may have done well, but will be left disappointed by the result. Left to rue their missed chances, the game presents another opportunity to learn and grow for an admittedly young team that believes plenty of positives are on the horizon.

“We need to stay positive,” Saunders said. “We need to band together to look at things as a team and look at things that we can do better and we can control.

“We had a couple chances, myself included, where we could have put it in,” Ballouchy added. “I think we can take from the game that if we can play like this every game, we’ll come back on the good side more often than not.”