Taty Castellanos scored NYCFC’s lone goal. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

As it turned out, the wait was not worth it.

After an almost three-hour delay start to the game due to inclement weather, New York City FC and Pumas UNAM battled in a Leagues Cup quarterfinal at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night.

The Mexican side prevailed, winning the shootout, 3-2, after the teams played to a 1-1 draw.

With the tie-breaker tie at 1-1, Maxi Moralez missed his attempt for the hosts while Sebastian Saucedo converted the winner for the visitors before 17,276 fans.

The game was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. but the weather pushed back the kickoff to 10:58 p.m. The game ended after 1 a.m.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been through a delay like that,” City defender James Sands said. “But as a player, you’ve always got to be ready for something like that. So it’s just about staying loose in the locker room, trying to keep calm, trying to take it easy and knowing when you do get out on the field, it’s going to be 100 miles an hour from the start. Just being able to flip that switch and be ready.”

Despite his team losing, NYCFC head coach Ronny Deila felt his team deserved better.

“There was one team on the pitch today for almost 90 minutes,” he told media after the match via a Zoom press conference. “If we do this performance over time, then it’s going to come because we are a young team and we are learning all the time.

“But we know also once you give Pumas time, they are good football players and they put the ball into the net once you leave the space. So the learning from these games gives you confidence that we are capable of beating teams like this. At the same time, a good performance and they need only one chance and you need to bury your own chances.”

Taty Castellanos lifted City into the lead in the 61st minute, but the Liga MX side equalized behind Rogerio, in the 72nd minute.

NYCFC had two goals called back due to VAR decisions – Keaton Parks and Santiago RodrĂ­guez.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.