New York City FC player ratings are determined by you, the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are the NYCFC player ratings from that thrilling last-second 3-2 win over Columbus Crew at Yankee Stadium on Matchday 29.
A dramatic win at home did wonders for the numbers in these latest New York City FC player ratings. We had a player cross the 9.0 threshold, a ratings rarity this season that’s only happened two other times.
The overall numbers were positive, with the Starting XI averaging a solid 7.1 rating. Yet three players stood above the rest of the New York City pack in your eyes for their performances in this heart-stopping win over the Crew, so we spend time below highlighting that trio.
Read on and bask in the positive vibes that permeate following a second straight important win secured by NYCFC.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Alonso Martínez, off 67′ (6.6) – 6.3
Hannes Wolf (9.2) – 9.1
Maxi Moralez, off 67′ (6.6) – 6.7
Nico Fernández Mercau, off 82′ (7.2) – 7.3
Aiden O’Neill, off 82′ (7.1) – 7.0
Andrés Perea (6.9) – 6.8
Kevin O’Toole (7.3) – 6.9
Justin Haak (7.5) – 7.6
Thiago Martins (7.3) – 6.9
Tayvon Gray (7.5) – 6.9
Matt Freese (7.0) – 6.9
Agustín Ojeda, on 67′ (8.2) – 8.7
Julián Fernández, on 67′ (8.0) – 8.7
Jonny Shore, on 82′ (n/a) – 6.9
Seymour Reid, on 82′ (n/a) – 6.1
Player Spotlight
Julián Fernández and Agustín Ojeda
We don’t usually feature more than one player here but these two Argentine attackers feel inexorably linked, in this game and in general. They entered in the 67th minute, with Fernández asked to play centrally with both Alonso Martínez and Maxi Moralez replaced and no other natural striker or central attacking midfielder sent on.
Fernández made most headlines with his unbelievable match-winner from distance, but his entire performance was influential in this game. Julián played four key passes and had five shot-creating actions, per FBref, so he was influential in multiple ways while NYCFC was chasing the game. His goal swung things, but his countryman Ojeda assisted both on Fernández’s winner, and on Hannes Wolf’s second equalizer in the 73rd minute.
Ojeda has been on a tear since Leagues Cup and since the calendar flipped to August. Really, the goal he scored against Club León in Leagues Cup seems to have gotten Ojeda going. Since that goal scored on August 1, the 21-year-old Argentine has five assists in his last six appearances across all competitions.
Ojeda hasn’t been in the Starting XI since the Leagues Cup finale against Deportivo Toluca, yet he’s had a game-changing impact off the bench, and against Columbus, the combined impact of Fernández and Ojeda made the difference.
It’s a major turnaround considering how little NYCFC was getting from its substitutes earlier this season. If we rewind back to May, Hudson River Blue‘s Matthew Mangam covered how little the club was getting from its substitutes through 12 games, a stretch when goals were hard to come by for Pascal Jansen’s team. That shifted this summer, and now, Pascal Jansen looks like he’s got depth aplenty, as he’s gotten goals from Seymour Reid and Fernández in back-to-back wins, while Ojeda just keeps chipping in assists.
Pascal Jansen – 8.7
This is one tick higher than the rating Jansen got for the 3-1 win over the Fire, when you handed him an 8.6. That rating and this rating each represented season-high grades for the NYCFC Head Coach, so he keeps topping his best rating of the season. That’s indicative of steady improvement from his team, and indicative of the cathartic high our player raters likely found themselves in after the Fernández winner nestled into the net at Yankee Stadium. Jansen keeps pushing the right buttons with his substitutes, and even though his team conceded twice, the resiliency and toughness shown in coming back each time are attributes the coach deserves credit for instilling.
Sergii Boiko – 4.9
The only yellow card of the night got shown to Julián Fernández when he took off his jersey as part of the celebrations of his game-winning goal. The penalty kick awarded to Columbus looked questionable in real-time, but stood up under slow-motion scrutiny. He’s had controversial games in charge when NYCFC played Columbus, but Boiko wasn’t the main character in this one, even if that didn’t stop you from rating him at a rather poor number.
Player of the Match
Hannes Wolf
This is the seventh time Hannes Wolf has been named Player of the Match this season, putting him into a tie with Alonso Martínez, who has also been Player of the Match seven times in 2025.
Wolf’s 9.1 rating marks the third time a New York City player has crossed the 9.0-or-over threshold in your ratings this season. Wolf got this exact same rating one other time, when he earned a 9.1 for his two goals and one assist in the dominant 4-0 win over Atlanta United FC on June 12.
The big performance against Columbus broke something of a mini-slump for the Austrian attacker. Wolf’s last goal prior to this brace came on July 3 in the 3-1 win over Toronto FC at Yankee Stadium, an eight-match stretch without finding the back of the net. His first goal capped off a straight-from-the-training-ground routine from a free kick, with Wolf bundling home after Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte parried a shot into Wolf’s path.
The second goal was a display of exceptional technique and precision from Wolf, as he perfectly timed and perfectly placed a first-time volley off a cross from Agustín Ojeda, beating Schulte to make it 2-2 late in the proceedings, setting the stage for Julián Fernández’s even-later winner.
Wolf now has 11 goals and five assists in 30 appearances in all competitions for NYCFC this season, so he’s nearly eclipsed both his goal (five) and assist (six) totals from the 2024 season. Alonso Martínez was quiet and largely held in check during this win over Columbus, but Wolf stepped up in his stead and produced one of his best performances of the season, a season which has already been arguably the best of his career.
Oliver Strand
Once again, we the HRB readers are fairly aligned with the FotMob ratings! The team has improved so much, and I dare say…. perhaps so have we? 😁