New York City vs Pittsburgh player ratings

New York City FC player ratings are determined by Hudson River Blue readers: Here are your NYCFC player ratings after the 1-0 cupset loss to Pittsburgh Riverhounds at beautiful Highmark Stadium.

Another US Open Cup, another loss: The player ratings are miserable after New York City were eliminated from the tournament after just a single game for the sixth time in eight appearances. This year, NYCFC fell to Pittsburgh Riverhounds, the 6th Place team in the Eastern Division of the USL Championship.

How did NYCFC lose to a middling lower-division club just three days after taking down the hottest team in MLS? The sputtering attack didn’t help: Mounsef Bakrar, who was in the Starting XI for just the third time this year, had the fewest touches of any NYCFC player, and managed to take only three shots all game. The 2.6 our readers handed him is dramatically lower than the 6.3 from FotMob, and it expresses the frustration among fans with a striker whose last goal came on August 31, 2024.

But you reserved your harshest rating for Strahinja Tanasijević, whose straight red card in the 78th minute set up New York City to fail. His 2.0 isn’t just the worst number handed out this night, or even this season — it’s the lowest rating for a player in Hudson River Blue history.

If there was a bright spot, it was Tomás Romero’s performance. The goalkeeper’s clutch saves kept New York City in the game, earned a team-high 7.0 rating from our readers, and was voted Player of the Match.

Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.

Player Spotlight 

Strahinja Tanasijević

Let’s get one thing straight: It was a soft red card. Tanasijević was first to the ball, and the contact he made with Pittsburgh’s Bradley Sample was incidental as he tried to round the corner and keep possession.

But you have to question Tanasijević’s judgement, even if the foul wasn’t intentional, never mind cynical or dangerous. He’s the last defender back, but his lack of urgency and awareness opens the door for Sample to make something out of nothing, which, in this case, was a fairly poor long ball sent upfield by Pittsburgh.

It brings to mind the goal that New York City gave up to Atlanta United in March, when Thiago Martins failed to clear a ball sent over the top, allowing Emmanuel Latte Lath to score what proved to be the game-winner. In both cases, an NYCFC center-back failed to act decisively or to anticipate how the ball moves on turf.

It’s hard to see Tanasijević earning back Jansen’s trust after this game. This was just the third start by the Serbian this year — the first two came in the opening games of the Major League Soccer season, when injuries depleted the team’s defense. Notably, Tanasijević didn’t go the full 90′ in any of those games: He was subbed out at halftime against Inter Miami in Matchday 1, and taken off at the 75th minute against LAFC in Matchday 2.

Since then, Tanasijević made just two substitute appearances, one of which was a season-worst outing in the home loss to Minnesota United: New York City’s record is 1W-1D-3L with Tanasijević on the field. No wonder Jansen has opted to play Justin Haak at center-back rather than Tanasijević.

NYCFC bows out of US Open Cup after Pittsburgh scores stoppage-time winner

A sputtering offense and defensive lapses sunk New York City FC, making them the only MLS side to lose to a lower-division team this round.

Hudson River BlueMatthew Mangam

Player of the Match

Tomás Romero

We now know why Romero has emerged as the primary backup to Matt Freese. The 24-year-old made his first First Team start since 2023, and he looked sharp in goal. Romero is credited with four saves. Two of them were spectacular, but more than that, his defensive actions and aggression in the box helped snuff out Pittsburgh’s attack.

Romero won Player of the Match in a landslide, taking more than 70% of the vote. The rest of the votes were split by Nico Cavallo, Tayvon Gray, Justin Haak, Andrés Perea, and Jonny Shore.

We should note that Romero has been on Jansen’s lineup card for 10 of the 11 games played so far this season. He was seen warming up when Freese took a knock earlier this year, and while the last thing NYCFC fans want is for the Iceman to sit out a game, they can take some comfort that Romero looks up to the task of stepping into the goal.