New York City FC had a 4-2 lead entering second-half stoppage time but conceded twice and ended up with a brutal 4-4 draw with FC Cincinnati, embodying the concept of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
After the match, Pascal Jansen and a few of his players projected frustration and a sense of bewilderment that they'd let a win slip away in this fashion. "When you see what happens in the last 15 minutes, that is something that is simply not possible in how we approach our game," Jansen said in his post-match presser.
Early into those "last 15 minutes," Talles Magno had seemed to put the game to bed with a neat finish, but that would be the last highlight of New York City's night. Cincinnati, despite being down two goals late, switched back on, throwing everything forward in an effort to get back in touching distance.
New York City didn't respond, and the kill-the-game changes to the squad made by Jansen — removing Nico Fernández, Agustín Ojeda, and Tayvon Gray for substitutes Arnau Farnos, Jonny Shore, and Strahinja Tanasijević — did not pan out, as the defense and reworked midfield couldn't hold on through stoppage time.
