New York City FC blanked by DC United as home woes continue

New York City FC dropped more points at home, losing 2-0 to DC United at Citi Field thanks to a pair of goals scored by DC's Louis Munteanu.

It's now a seven-match winless streak for New York City in league play, the longest winless run the team has endured since 2024, when they went nine MLS games between wins, and it's tied for fourth-longest winless run in the club's 12-season history. The loss at Citi Field also means they've failed to win at home for a fifth straight game.

New York City had no great looks of their own to score in this match despite enjoying over 70% of the possession, credited with zero big scoring chances created. While they attempted seven shots, none were what you'd categorize as high-quality looks, outside of one extremely early opportunity for Agustín Ojeda on a counter in the third minute.

Instead, DC United twice punished New York City for their lingering inability to deal with dead-ball situations. The first Munteanu goal came straight from a long throw-in in the first half, then the second goal in the 75th minute was a penalty kick that stemmed from a New York City foul judged to occur while they were trying to defend another long-throw in.

While they scored three times from corner kicks to win in the US Open Cup on Wednesday night, their inability to defend set plays in MLS games continues to cost them, as they've now conceded seven goals straight from set pieces, the second-most of any team in MLS ahead of only Toronto FC, who have conceded eight times from dead balls.

Walking wounded

Talles Magno was supposed to get his first MLS start since October 21, 2023, as he was named in Pascal Jansen’s original Starting XI. Instead of starting, Talles went down injured during warmups and got replaced by Malachi Jones, himself on a minutes restriction as he works back from his multi-year injury.

Aiden O’Neill had to come off in the 35th minute with an ankle injury that he's reportedly been dealing with for a while, forcing Andrés Perea into his longest spell of action in midfield since returning from a broken leg last weekend in Montréal.

Kevin O’Toole was out of the squad entirely for this match, as was Tayvon Gray, as Gray served a one-game suspension after getting sent off in the Montréal loss.

The backline was makeshift, and even the attack was thinned out, especially once Talles was made unavailable during pregame. Hannes Wolf only came on as a substitute for the final 30 minutes of the loss to DC, as Wolf had also been out injured the last few games after coming off early in the draw with FC Cincinnati.

The New York City squad was behind the 8-ball at Citi Field, and the ultra-congested fixture schedule of late April and early May might be taking a toll as injuries begin to pile up and thin out the options available to Pascal Jansen. Not an excuse for the way the available players performed against DC United, but a mitigating factor worth mentioning.

Home-field disadvantage

New York City used to be able to count on consistently racking up three points from the home games they played at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field. So far in 2026, the home-field advantage hasn’t been there, as they’re only a modest 2W-2D-3L through their first seven home games. They're only one of five MLS teams to play seven or more home matches through Matchday 11, so this middling record at home counts as a missed opportunity to stack up some points, from New York City's perspective.

Perhaps most concerning, their attacking play at home has looked mostly off during this stretch, with the exception of the four-goal eruption against Cincinnati. They were shut out by DC and created no good chances, only got a consolation goal to lose 2-1 to Charlotte, and settled for one goal and one point despite dominating the scoring chances when they played St. Louis.

Marking and defending from both dead-ball situations and from situations that attempt to split NYCFC’s center-backs have been consistent defensive issues during the winless stretch. DC could have picked up a second goal scored from a long throw-in, missing a great chance in the 45th minute, with a throw again eluding any NYCFC defensive intervention and falling to Keisuke Kurokawa, who didn't connect with much force on a point-blank shot that was saved by Matt Freese.

It’s rare to see New York City this vulnerable, during their home games or from set piece after set piece.

They’ll have one full week to rest and to potentially get healthier, but they’ll need to change some habits if they’re to get a better result from their final home match of the first half of this split-by-the-World-Cup season, when they host Columbus Crew next Sunday afternoon in the Bronx.