New York City FC player ratings are determined by you, the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are the NYCFC player ratings from the team’s frustrating 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City on a sweltering night in the Midwest.
This was never going to be an easy game for New York City. From the travel schedule, to players missing due to injury or rumored transfers, to the weather advisory that warned of extreme heat at kickoff, the odds were stacked against NYCFC before the opening whistle sounded.
But the squad looked good, and came close to earning a second consecutive road win for the first time this season. But the game ended 1-1, and your ratings reflect both an appreciation for NYCFC being the better team, and for what was ultimately a frustrating result.
Overall, players in the Starting XI earned an average rating of 6.6, with three starters reaching the 7s. Justin Haak’s 7.9 isn’t just the highest rating on the night, it’s his personal best this year, beating out his 7.6 from the home win over Atlanta United on June 14. Goal-scorer Andrés Perea also set a new season high with a 7.7, and earned his first Player of the Match in 2025.
Substitute Sebastiano Musu caught the attention of our readers, earning a 7.2 from the 13 minutes plus stoppage time he played in his Major League Soccer debut. It’s the third-highest rating for any sub this year, and for good reason: The 24-year-old brought a lot to the attack in his limited time on the field.
We take a closer look at Musu’s underlying metrics in the Player Spotlight, below.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Andrew Leigh
Alonso Martínez, off 77′ (7.4) – 5.6
Julián Fernández, off 77′ (7.2) –6.6
Andrés Perea (7.9) – 7.7
Maxi Moralez (7.8) – 6.6
Aiden O’Neill (7.3) – 6.3
Jonny Shore, off 64′ (7.0) – 6.5
Kevin O’Toole, off 77′ (7.2) – 6.5
Tayvon Gray (6.8) – 5.8
Thiago Martins (7.3) – 6.4
Justin Haak (6.9) – 7.9
Matt Freese (7.6) – 7.7
Agustín Ojeda, on 64′ (6.3) –5.4
Nico Cavallo, on 77′ (6.3) – 5.2
Sebastiano Musu, on 77′ (6.2) –7.2
Seymour Reid, on 77′ (5.9) – 5.9
Player Spotlight
Sebastiano Musu
Where did this guy come from?
Sebastiano Musu was a surprise addition to the lineup after joining the First Team on a Short-Term Agreement announced on July 17. Two days later, the 24-year-old attacker who joined NYCFC II in March made his MLS debut when he came on in the 77th minute of this tense 1-1 draw with Kansas City that NYCFC desperately wanted to win.
Let’s put this in perspective. Just one year ago, Musu was playing with Manhattan SC in the Metropolitan Division of USL League Two, which is in the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. Didn’t he know that when he took the field at Children’s Mercy Park, he was supposed to be awed by the moment? That he should be overwhelmed by the pace, the physicality, the pressure? Instead, Musu gave off Malachi Jones vibes from the moment he took his position on the right wing, seeking out the ball and finding space by making arcing runs that the SKC defense had trouble tracking.
Musu’s first involvement of the game was to take a left-footed shot from outside the box two minutes after coming on. It went wide of the target, but there was some danger to it.
Two minutes later, Musu drew what looked to be a penalty: Reid played a through-ball into the box, but before Musu could take a shot, he was pushed from behind by Kansas City defender Logan Ndenbe and went to ground. Referee Timothy Ford waved on play, and the sequence wasn’t reviewed despite what looked like a clear foul — that was according to Apple TV analysts Mark Followill and Warren Barton. Maybe Ford decided that Musu’s tumble was the result of his inexperience, and not a foul?
No matter: Musu took three shots, second only on the NYCFC squad to Alonso Martínez, who took four. None of Musu’s attempts were on target, but he was fun to watch.
It turns out that the numbers back up the feels. Musu was NYCFC’s second most dangerous attacker per MLS Analytics, despite being on the field for just 13 minutes plus stoppage time.
New York City 1-1 Kansas City | NYCFC xG by Player (FotMob)
| Player | xG |
|---|---|
| Alonso Martínez | 0.76 |
| Sebastiano Musu | 0.24 |
| Andrés Perea | 0.21 |
| Justin Haak | 0.14 |
| Julián Fernández | 0.07 |
| Aiden O’Neill | 0.07 |
| Seymour Reid | 0.05 |
| Jonny Shore | 0.04 |
| Thiago Martins | 0.03 |
| Nico Cavallo | 0.00 |
| Tayvon Gray | 0.00 |
| Agustín Ojeda | 0.00 |
| Kevin O’Toole | 0.00 |
The FotMob bot agrees, assigning Musu the second-highest xG on the team after Martínez. According to FotMob, the team’s most potent attackers were (in order) Martínez, Musu, Perea, and Haak.
You can see how momentum shifted in the 77th minute, when Musu came on along with Nico Cavallo at left-back and Seymour Reid at striker. Kansas City had been enjoying its most dominant run of play of the game to that point, scoring in the 74th minute. But that changed the moment the subs took the field.
To be honest, we know precious little about the attacker beyond what we saw on Saturday night. But here’s what we gleaned: Born on October 10, 2020, in Oristano, a provincial capital on the west coast of Sardinia, Musu played in the lower divisions of Italian soccer before moving to the United States in 2020 and enrolling at Campbellsville University, a Catholic school in Kentucky roughly halfway between Louisville and Nashville.
The winger played for Campbellsville, then spent the summer of 2023 at Seacoast United in New Hampshire, which competes in USL League Two in the Fourth Tier of American soccer. That fall he transferred to Manhattan University, a small private Catholic school in The Bronx, then he joined Manhattan SC of USL League Two in the summer of 2024. Musu returned to school before joining NYCFC II earlier this year.
Musu made his debut for the Baby Blues on March 30, and scored his first goal on May 15. He now has three goals and two assists in 12 appearances for NYCFC II. According to Transfermarkt, Musu has no monetary value.
No matter — we’ll likely see more of Musu soon. According to the rules, he can only appear once more with the First Team in league play on a Short-Term Agreement. But Leagues Cup action begins next week on Tuesday, July 29, when NYCFC hosts Club Puebla, and “an individual player may appear in any number of non-league games during the terms of his four Short-Term Agreements,” per MLS.
Matthew Mangam
Pascal Jansen – 6.0
It’s clear that readers aren’t satisfied with the result of Saturday’s game. The same is true for Jansen, who said as much in his postgame press conference. But let’s take a moment and consider NYCFC’s performance given the headwinds blowing against this team.
Short rest, high heat, the third of four games on the road: This was never going to be easy. SKC aren’t the strongest of teams, but they sat out the midweek game with a bye, and were playing at home. Add to that a midfield missing Wolf, who had a strain, and that has been without Keaton Parks since he was sidelined on May 31, and you have one tired, depleted squad.
And yet it was NYCFC who came roaring out the gates, dominating the run of play and creating chances. This team passed the eye test despite fielding just one Designated Player in center-back Thiago Martins, and a lineup card with just one player over the age of 24 on the bench in defender Strahinja Tanasijević.
If Jansen can bring the fight with a squad like this one, just think what he can do with Wolf and new signing Nico Fernández in the attack, or Raul Gustavo in defense (if the rumors are true) and Justin Haak free to roam the midfield.
Timothy Ford – 3.1
Player of the Match
Andrés Perea
Before we talk about the goal, let’s discuss the celly.
After the ball went into the net, Pérea ran to the sideline and stepped into a simple but distinctive salsa routine. It didn’t look improvised. Rather, it seems that Pérea had practiced the moves and had them ready to go.
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Perea’s goal and celly | Courtesy newyorkcityfc.com
Now, about that goal.
It was four days in the making. As Liam Fitzpatrick put it in his Player Ratings after the Orlando game last Wednesday, “While Perea’s involvement in New York City’s equalizer won’t go down in any stat books, he played a vital role in the chaos” that led to that instrumental goal. In Kansas City, Perea finally bagged a goal that will count in his official stats, and it was a beaut.
It began when Maxi Moralez released him with a through ball that Perea controlled, shielded, and shot while running at full pace. It was a striker’s goal, economical and confident.
And it was enough to earn his first Player of the Match of the season with a clean 50% of the vote, beating out Julián Fernández, Matt Freese, and Haak.
