New York City FC couldn't pull off the upset of the century, instead getting soundly beaten by Inter Miami CF, 5-1, to lose the Eastern Conference Final and end the 2025 season.
This game quickly went south for New York City, conceding an opening goal to Miami in the 14th minute and trailing by two before the clock struck 30 minutes played. Justin Haak gave NYCFC a brief glimmer of hope with a goal late in the first half, but there would be no second equalizing goal for New York City. Miami poured it on late in the second half, with winger Tadeo Allende recording a hat trick, and now they'll host MLS Cup and try to end their up-and-down season with a big trophy.
For New York City, the offseason now begins, with the team having made it one round deeper in this year's MLS Cup Playoffs than they did in 2024. Pascal Jansen and his squad inspired dreams of another unexpected MLS Cup win, but it was not to be: Here are 4 Thoughts on the lopsided loss in the Eastern Conference Final.
Hudson River Blue Staff
1. End of the road
Underdog runs can't all end in championships. Sometimes the talent disparities are too big due to missing injured players, and sometimes red-hot players and teams simply can't be stopped despite the best collective efforts.
It felt like a little from Column A and Column B for New York City FC in their Eastern Conference Final defeat at Chase Stadium. Miami scored a banger of a goal with their first real great chance of the night, then got a second inside the first half-hour and seemed to be in cruise control.
Even when NYCFC clawed back into the game before halftime, Miami were the ones to respond and get the all-important "next goal" to extend their lead to 3-1, rather than let New York City equalize and push the Herons to the brink. They'd add on from there, confirming what many suspected coming into this match: There was too much of a gap in quality between these two teams and it was Miami's Conference Final to lose.
An air of inevitability now surrounds Inter Miami CF, as they dismantled New York City with five goals and without ever looking truly in danger of not getting this result. There was a moment in the second half when NYCFC substitute Julián Fernández got picked out unmarked at the back post by Nico Fernández Mercau, with a chance to level the match at two goals apiece, but Fernández's finessed strike was saved by Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo.
Rather than a 2-2 score, Miami almost immediately went and made it 3-1, swinging the tide fully and finally in their favor.
The run New York City FC put together late in the regular season and in the playoffs was admirable, especially the win in Philadelphia while down three critical players who featured in the previous round vs Charlotte FC. Yet it wasn't enough to overcome this monster team that is the current form of Inter Miami – even when Lionel Messi is quiet like he was in the Eastern Conference Final, Miami can still roll teams.
2. A tale of two 'second options'
Miami's second-leading goalscorer of the 2025 season, Tadeo Allende, had a brace inside 25 minutes and set his Miami team cruising toward hosting MLS Cup, eventually finishing the night with three goals.
The second-leading scorer for New York City FC this season, Hannes Wolf, found himself on the bench to start the Eastern Conference Final, even while New York City plays without their actual leading scorer, Alonso Martínez and his 21 goals in all competitions.
Allende's opening strike came somewhat out of nowhere. New York City FC looked well on their way to successfully navigating the jitters and sketchiness of the opening minutes of an away final, with Pascal Jansen's squad looking composed and enjoying possession for most of the opening 15 minutes played at Chase Stadium.
That all changed for the worse in the 14th minute when Miami's new playoff hero their second-leading scorer behind Lionel Messi, Allende, stepped up. A direct over-the-top ball played in his direction bounced favorably off Allende, then off Raul Gustavo, and then back into Allende's path toward goal, with the winger putting a first-time blast at great velocity past Matt Freese at the near post.
Wolf did emerge as a substitute to begin the second half in place of Jonny Shore, and had a few bright moments while New York City chased the game while trailing, but he was still deemed the weakest link by Pascal Jansen heading into this match and worthy of dropping for the biggest game of the season. He's not the reason New York City lost isn't mentioned in order to scapegoat him, but New York City needed another attacking option like Wolf to have a big game to give them anything close to the same firepower that Miami had on hand.
3. Shellshocked after some shenanigans
Maxi Moralez was the subject of lots of physical play in Philadelphia, absorbing five fouls. Miami seemed interested in replicating the strategy and Moralez seemed intent on proving he wouldn't be pushed around so easily. At the first sign of having Inter Miami defenders draped over him in the early going, Moralez took exception to close marking from Maxi Falcon of Inter Miami, appearing to drive his elbow into the Miami defender's chest before tumbling over atop him, a foul deemed worthy of a yellow card for Moralez.
The bit of dark arts from Moralez was met with a livid response from Inter Miami, with Rodrigo De Paul, Lionel Messi, and Marcelo Weigandt incensed and in Moralez's face after what they saw as unfair play from the diminutive 38-year-old.
The shenanigans seemed to throw New York City off their game and the team got punished badly directly from the restart after the foul by Moralez. Jordi Alba was left virtually unmarked and able to pick out a perfect cross that Allende headed past a flat-footed Matt Freese – this was a game to forget for the NYCFC and USMNT goalkeeper, with the header goal from Allende seeming like Freese's lowest point in the playoffs.
New York City, to their credit, did shake off going down 2-0, but Justin Haak's goal was only a brief reprieve.
4. Haak's last act?
Justin Haak started every single New York City FC match this season, yet he also might have just played his very last match with the club at which he grew up. His headed goal off a free kick was New York City's lone highlight and gave the team a
Haak is set to be a free agent open to sign with any club now that his New York City contract is expiring, with multiple reports out there indicating that he's got interest from a bunch of MLS teams as well as teams in the English Championship, the German Bundesliga, Scotland, you name it.
Haak broke out in 2025 and was a critical reason why New York City made it as far as they did in these MLS Cup Playoffs, and now the team has to figure out if they can retain his services, or if they're about to lose him for nothing. New York City might need to first get around to announcing or hiring someone to be their new Sporting Director post-David Lee – it's been 60 days exactly since Lee's departure was announced, yet no new hire.
Retaining the Homegrown defender-midfielder from Brooklyn should be a top priority for whoever is running the NYCFC Sporting department now, with his goal one last reminder of how valuable he's become for Pascal Jansen. Haak also isn't the only NYCFC player who faces big decisions about his future – we'll have plenty more coverage of all the possibilities and offseason machinations to come in the next days and weeks, but for now, this loss in Miami might have been one final reminder of all the qualities Justin Haak brought to the table in his breakout season.
