When New York City FC takes the field to face the Philadelphia Union in Sunday’s Eastern Conference Semifinal showdown, things will feel eerily similar to 2021.
That year, NYCFC faced Philadelphia without three key players after losing Keaton Parks and Anton Tinnerholm to season-ending injuries, and Taty Castellanos to a one-game suspension after earning a red card against the New England Revolution.
This time, New York City will once again be without three key players after losing Andrés Perea and Alonso Martínez to season-ending injuries, and Aiden O’Neill to a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation while playing Charlotte FC. These come on top of losing Parks to a season-ending injury once again earlier this year.
To understand exactly how Sunday is 2021 redux for NYCFC, let’s rewind to nearly four years ago.
December 5, 2021: Philadelphia 1-2 NYCFC
NYCFC, in the midst of an impressive playoff run, faced the higher-seeded Philadelphia at Subaru Park in the Eastern Conference Finals without Tinnerholm, Parks, and Castellanos.
That October, Tinnerholm suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon against Nashville SC — an injury that kept the right-back off the field for the following eight months. Because of Tinnerholm’s unavailability, a largely untested 19-year-old Tayvon Gray stepped up to become the starter. He hasn’t looked back since.
Parks’s season ended just a few games later, after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot from his popliteal artery in his lower right leg. Then-head coach Ronny Deila compensated by putting out a double-pivot with Alfredo Morales and James Sands. The shift paid off.
But the biggest blow to New York City was Castellanos. The striker, who had 21 goals in all competitions, was riding a six-game scoring streak. He was the closest thing in the league to a guaranteed goal, scoring in both the 2-0 playoff win over Atlanta United and the 2-2 shootout win over New England. But he was sent off late in the New England game for a challenge that saw him earn a second yellow card, which kept him out of the match against Philadelphia. Delia replaced Castellanos with Héber, who made his first start since tearing his ACL in September 2020.
Despite those key absences, NYCFC prevailed with an epic 2-1 come-from-behind victory to advance to their first-ever MLS Cup. Substitute Talles Magno, who was 19 years old at the time, scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute when he sent a close-range shot past Matt Freese, then with the Union.
Philadelphia wasn’t at full strength, either. A wave of COVID moved through the squad, sidelining 11 players — including goalkeeper Andre Blake and four starters in Alejandro Bedoya, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, and Kai Wagner.
The game remains a controversial topic in Philadelphia, where fans still feel hard done by the effects of players ruled out after testing positive for COVID. But in a battle between two patched-together squads, NYCFC’s unproven attack did enough to win on the road against Philadelphia’s inexperienced defense, while the Union’s first-choice attack of Dániel Gazdag, Jamiro Monteiro, and Kacper Przybylko couldn’t match a New York City defense anchored by Alex Callens, Maxime Chanot, and Sean Johnson.
John Baney
November 23, 2025: Philadelphia vs NYCFC
Now, some things are very similar heading into this Sunday’s tilt.
Before the Game 3 win over Charlotte FC concluded, it was already known that New York City would be without O’Neill and Perea. O’Neill received his third yellow card of the playoffs, forcing a one-game suspension, and Perea suffered a gruesome right lower leg fracture that required surgery.
But, once again, the biggest blow was the loss of NYCFC’s striker. While on international duty with Costa Rica this past Friday, Martínez injured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the 1-0 loss to Haiti. It’s unclear how long the 27-year-old will be out, but the standard return after ACL surgery is eight to nine months.
As for Philadelphia, they look to be nearly at full strength. Besides midfielder Quinn Sullivan, who tore his ACL in September, the Union has no new injuries. The same Philadelphia squad that decisively won the 2025 Supporters’ Shield with 66 points – the fewest since Dallas FC’s 60 points in 2016 – will be available to play on Sunday and on plenty of rest, last playing on November 1 when they eliminated the Chicago Fire in Game 2 of Round One.
Andrew Leigh
NYCFC absences hurting more than in 2021?
Despite similarities to 2021, New York City’s losses could hurt more this year because of the timing.
Losing Perea and O’Neill creates a hole in NYCFC’s midfield that will force head coach Pascal Jansen to completely rethink how the team will line up, which could shake up the defense on Sunday. It could be that Justin Haak will move from center-back to midfield, resulting in a center-back duo of Raul Gustavo and Thiago Martins. If Haak takes over the Perea role in the midfield, will he be partnered with 18-year-old Jonny Shore?
The sudden absence of Martínez complicates the picture even more. Will Nico Fernández Mercau play a more advanced position? Or could we see a complete reshuffle of the midfield and attack?
Whatever the lineup, the team will desperately miss Martínez, Perea, and O’Neill.
Mark Radigan
Martínez not only leads the team with 21 goals in all competitions, but he’s also the guy who wins games. He scored a league-leading 10 game-winning goals in the MLS regular season and scored both of NYCFC’s game-winners over Charlotte.
Perea set career highs in starts (23) and minutes played (1,970) this season. The 24-year-old became a staple in the midfield this summer, when Parks underwent surgery to address blood flow issues in his right leg. Since June 12, Perea earned starts in all 19 of New York City’s MLS matches in which he was eligible to appear — he missed just one game due to yellow card accumulation.
Matthew Mangam
O’Neill joined NYCFC from Standard Liege in April. He is crucial to New York City’s midfield, ranking in the 84th percentile of all midfielders in tackles (52) and ranking in the 79th percentile of successful passes (959).
He has also played 14 months of nonstop soccer between club and country, totaling more than 5,000 minutes in that span. But his composure under pressure and high soccer IQ will be sorely missed.
Glenn Crooks
In many ways, 2025 is a repeat of 2021 for NYCFC — the head coach will have to rely on tactical creativity and on the team’s depth to try to put together a winning lineup for a tough road game against one of the best teams in the league.
But unlike in 2021, the Philadelphia squad is intact. Finally, Union fans will get the rematch they dreamed of as they get to host a severely depleted New York City.
yo HRB: could Malachi or Keaton be up any chance of ‘available’? just curious. we’ve seen ’em alongside the squad for a while and it’s well beyond their projected out time respectively.