The first regulation New York City FC win of Leagues Cup brought with it a set of positive player ratings.
New York City’s performances in the early stages of Leagues Cup were middling, and so too were the scores you handed out after each of them. Only two players graded at or above 7.0 in each of the shootout wins over New England Revolution and QuerĂ©taro FC, while the ratings looked especially rough after the late-game meltdown against FC Cincinnati.
That all changed with the 2-1 win over Tigres UANL in Leagues Cup Round of 16. New York City played spoilers, disappointing a decidedly pro-Tigres crowd at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey by putting together what might be one of its best performances of the 2024 season.
You seemed to come away impressed with the back line’s ability to neutralize the Tigres attack and even more impressed by the South American attacking duo responsible for both of New York City’s goals.
Two players were rated in the high 8s, while the average rating among all 14 players who played a part in the win was an impressive 7.3. Things are trending in the right direction for New York City FC and in these player ratings.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Alonso MartĂnez, off 85′ (7.7) – 7.0
Santiago RodrĂguez (8.4) – 8.8
Hannes Wolf (6.1) – 6.6
Maxi Moralez, off 85′ (8.7) – 8.6
Keaton Parks (7.5) – 7.0
James Sands (7.5) – 7.6
Tayvon Gray (8.0) – 7.9
Christian McFarlane (6.9) – 7.5
Thiago Martins (6.8) – 7.3
Strahinja Tanasijević, off 72′ (6.9) – 6.8
Matt Freese (7.1) – 7.7
Justin Haak, on 72′ (6.4) – 6.8
Julián Fernández, on 85′ (n/a) – 6.9
Mounsef Bakrar, on 85′ (n/a) – 6.0
Player Spotlight
Maxi Moralez
New York City has the youngest roster in MLS this season, but it’s their oldest player who has played a huge part in reaching the Leagues Cup Quarterfinals.
Maxi Moralez provided an immediate response after Tigres opened the scoring at Red Bull Arena in the 18th minute, equalizing two minutes later to nullify any momentum the Mexican side had gained early in the match.
High pressure pays off and Maxi Moralez makes it 1-1!#LeaguesCup2024 pic.twitter.com/YyeWH1OFxT
— Leagues Cup (@LeaguesCup) August 14, 2024
He then assisted Santiago RodrĂguez on his match-winning goal, capping a huge night for the 37-year-old Argentine who spent two seasons in Liga MX with Club LeĂłn just before joining NYCFC in 2017.
Leagues Cup has been a springboard for Moralez this season. He’s started in three of New York City’s four matches and has completed 15 key passes, behind only Luca Orellano of FC Cincinnati, the tournament’s leader with 17 key passes.
Moralez’s goal and assist against Tigres add to the assist he picked up on Santi RodrĂguez’s opener in Cincinnati—of late, he and Maxi have been deadly when playing together.
It wasn’t clear how much the 37-year-old Moralez would have to offer New York City in 2024, given his age and his lengthy recovery from a serious knee injury suffered late last summer.
Leagues Cup and this win over Tigres have made it clear that Moralez still has plenty to offer in 2024.
Nick Cushing – 7.6
It’s a high score after a win, one of the New York City head coach’s highest ratings of the season. Cushing also helped himself by fielding close to his strongest possible lineup, putting Alonso MartĂnez back in at striker while asking Santi to play out on the left while Maxi Moralez filled the No 10 attacking midfielder role. MartĂnez, Moralez, and RodrĂguez had hands in each of the goals, a combination of Strahinja Tanasijević and Justin Haak covered center back effectively for Birk Risa as he works through lingering injury issues, and Cushing’s trust in 17-year-old fullback Christian McFarlane continued to pay off.
Oliver Strand
Keylor Herrera – 3.7
New York City was shown four yellow cards compared to just one for Tigres, which may influence some of this rating. Herrera also failed to exhibit much control of the match in its latter stages, as Tigres players grew frustrated and directed that frustration towards NYCFC, its players, and even its training staff. Eight minutes of stoppage time got added at the end of the second half, too, which seemed excessive and seemed to give Tigres one last hope of grabbing an equaliezr and sending the match to penalties. Your rating reflects a perception that this referee was friendly to Tigres in his decision-making and handling of the match, though it didn’t have an impact on the result in the end.
Player of the Match
Santiago RodrĂguez
He’s been voted your Player of the Match eight times now, giving him a slight lead over Matt Freese, who has been named your PotM seven times this season.
The win over Tigres was the latest in a string of game-changing performances from the 24-year-old Uruguayan Designated Player, who now has a team-high 11 goals across all competitions.
Santi had Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman on alert all night, putting three shots on target and forcing the veteran to make two tough saves. Guzman was helpless to stop Santi’s goal, which was perfectly placed and came from a perfect one-two combination between RodrĂguez and Maxi Moralez.
Santi RodrĂguez scores his third goal of @LeaguesCup and @newyorkcityfc take the lead over Tigres. đź‘Ś pic.twitter.com/zbPDS4L5Fr
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 14, 2024
Santi has the No 10 kit number but he’s been the player shifting over to the left-wing to accommodate Maxi Moralez’s return to fitness and a spot in the Starting XI, and it has started to work wonders in Leagues Cup.
Besides the match-winning goal and three shots on target, RodrĂguez completed five dribbles successfully and was credited with a chance created. It earned him high grades and not just from you HRB readers: The 8.8 he got in these ratings nearly matches the 8.4 received from FotMob.
The Leagues Cup run continues because Santi and Maxi were too much for Tigres, and now their test becomes repeating this kind of performance away to Columbus in the quarterfinal.
