New York City FC's match against Columbus Crew was never going to be easy, but few picked a Crew missing talisman Diego Rossi to carry a 2-1 lead into the 70th minute at Yankee Soccer Stadium. The Crew had the upper hand for most of the match, which makes the NYCFC win all the more satisfying.
New York City came from behind twice. First, it was behind a Hannes Wolf goal in first-half stoppage time that sent the teams even at 1-1 into the break. Then it happened again in the 73rd minute, when Agustín Ojeda sent a looping cross across the box that Wolf volleyed into the net.
But it took another 24 minutes – and another moment of magic – for New York City to find the game-winner courtesy a Julián Fernández worldie that is now the front-runner for the club's most dramatic goal of the season. Here are four thoughts about an exhilarating win that lifts the club into 5th Place for the first time this season.
Hudson River Blue Staff
1. Never say die
New York City have taken an unreal 23 points from losing positions this season, a statistic that's all the more incredible when you consider the team now have 50 points total after 29 games.
That never-say-die attitude came through again tonight in dramatic fashion. The 90+4' game-winner from Fernández wasn't a fluke goal; it was the end result of dominating the run of play for the final 30-plus minutes of the game. The 60th-minute goal from Wessam Abou Ali that gave Columbus the lead didn't break NYCFC, it lit a fire under them.
What was unusual was how late New York City left it tonight. This was the third stoppage-time goal this season, and just the second stoppage-time game-winner — the first was back on July 16, when Alonso Martínez's 90+1' gave NYCFC a 2-1 win over Orlando City in Matchday 22.
Julián Fernández scores, strips | Courtesy newyorkcityfc.com
2. Hannes makes NYCFC history with his 10th and 11th goals of the season
Last week, we looked at how this is shaping into the best season of Wolf's career. The 26-year-old made good on our analysis: With his two goals tonight, he becomes just the 10th New York City player to score 10 or more goals in a single season.
New York City FC | Goals by Season
| Player | Year | Goals | Mins | G/90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Villa | 2016 | 23 | 2869 | 0.72 |
| 2 | David Villa | 2017 | 22 | 2556 | 0.77 |
| 3 | Taty Castellanos | 2021 | 19 | 2760 | 0.62 |
| 4 | David Villa | 2015 | 18 | 2514 | 0.64 |
| 5 | Alonso Martínez | 2024 | 16 | 1498 | 0.96 |
| 6 | Héber | 2019 | 15 | 1575 | 0.86 |
| Alonso Martínez* | 2025 | 15 | 2178 | 0.62 | |
| 7 | David Villa | 2018 | 14 | 1754 | 0.72 |
| 9 | Taty Castellanos | 2022 | 13 | 1436 | 0.81 |
| 10 | Frank Lampard | 2016 | 12 | 1280 | 0.84 |
| Alexandru Mitriță | 2019 | 12 | 2172 | 0.50 | |
| Santiago Rodríguez | 2024 | 12 | 2799 | 0.39 | |
| 13 | Ismael Tajouri-Shradi | 2018 | 11 | 1547 | 0.64 |
| Taty Castellanos | 2019 | 11 | 2052 | 0.48 | |
| Hannes Wolf* | 2025 | 11 | 2308 | 0.39 | |
| 16 | Jack Harrison | 2017 | 10 | 2757 | 0.33 |
Socring 10 goals is no small feat. As we noted in that article, "A 10-goal season eluded high-profile attackers such as Talles Magno (who scored seven goals in 2022), Gabriel Pereira (eight goals in 2022), Maxi Moralez (eight goals in 2018), and Jesús Medina (nine goals in 2021)."
Agustín Ojeda and Hannes Wolf are unstoppable | Courtesy newyorkcityfc.com
Oliver Strand
3. 5th Place, 15 Wins, 50 points
For the sixth time in club history, New York City have logged at least 15 wins. The last time that happened was in 2022, when a stacked squad won 16 games — and three of those wins came in the final three games.
New York City FC | MLS Results by Year
| Year | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | PPG | PL | Win % | G/G | GA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 44 | 35 | 9 | 50 | 1.72 | 7 | 51.7% | 1.52 | 1.21 |
| 2024 | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 54 | 49 | 5 | 50 | 1.47 | 6 | 41.2% | 1.59 | 1.44 |
| 2023 | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 35 | 39 | -4 | 41 | 1.21 | 11 | 26.5% | 1.03 | 1.15 |
| 2022 | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 57 | 41 | 16 | 55 | 1.62 | 3 | 47.1% | 1.68 | 1.21 |
| 2021 | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 56 | 36 | 20 | 51 | 1.50 | 4 | 41.2% | 1.65 | 1.06 |
| 2020* | 23 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 25 | 12 | 39 | 1.70 | 5 | 52.2% | 1.61 | 1.09 |
| 2019 | 34 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 63 | 42 | 21 | 64 | 1.88 | 1 | 52.9% | 1.85 | 1.24 |
| 2018 | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 59 | 45 | 14 | 56 | 1.65 | 3 | 47.1% | 1.74 | 1.32 |
| 2017 | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 56 | 43 | 13 | 57 | 1.68 | 2 | 47.1% | 1.65 | 1.26 |
| 2016 | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 62 | 57 | 5 | 54 | 1.59 | 2 | 44.1% | 1.82 | 1.68 |
| 2015 | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 49 | 58 | -9 | 37 | 1.09 | 8 | 29.4% | 1.44 | 1.71 |
| Total | 348 | 155 | 89 | 114 | 572 | 470 | 102 | 554 | 1.59 | 47.1% | 1.64 | 1.35 |
Head coach Pascal Jansen's win percentage now stands at 51.7%, which is the third-highest in team history. There are still five games left to play, and so his numbers could shift up or down, but right now Jansen is behind only the 52.2% of the COVID-shortened 2020 season and the club-best 52.9% of the 2019 season.
More germane to the current season, New York City climb into 5th Place with this result, setting a new high on the table. It tops the time the team reached 6th Place after beating Chicago Fire 3-1 at Yankee Stadium on May 25 in Matchday 15 — a position that the club held for just three days.
MLS Table
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Philadelphia Union | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 49 | 33 | 16 | 57 |
| 2. | Cincinnati FC | 30 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 44 | 37 | 7 | 55 |
| 3. | Charlotte FC | 30 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 51 | 40 | 11 | 53 |
| 4. | Nashville SC | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 50 | 35 | 15 | 50 |
| 5. | New York City FC | 29 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 44 | 35 | 9 | 50 |
| 6. | Inter Miami | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 57 | 44 | 13 | 49 |
| 7. | Columbus Crew | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 50 | 46 | 4 | 49 |
| 8. | Orlando City | 29 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 55 | 41 | 14 | 48 |
| 9. | Chicago Fire | 29 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 54 | 53 | 1 | 42 |
| 10. | NY Red Bulls | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 43 | 40 | 3 | 40 |
Now, NYCFC find themselves knocking on the door of a Top 4 finish and home-field advantage in the opening round of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. New York City are even with fourth-place Nashville SC on points but trail on goal differential, and will face third-place Charlotte FC on Saturday in yet another "six-point game."
Last month, NYCFC were flirting with the possibility of not making the playoffs in an Eastern Conference that looks to be the toughest in the history of Major League Soccer. Now, New York City are just seven points behind Supporters' Shield-leading Philadelphia Union with one game in hand.
Hudson River Blue Staff
4. Inconsistent officiating
This came dangerously close to yet another New York City vs Columbus game undone by officiating, joining the 1-1 draw on July 8, 2023; the storm-delayed 3-2 loss at Yankee Stadium on June 14, 2024; and the 4-2 loss at Lower.com on August 31, 2024.
In the 37th minute, Wessam Abou Ali of Columbus and Aiden O'Neill of New York City tangled legs when going after a fifty-fifty ball in the penalty area. Abou Ali went down, and referee Sergii Boiko whistled a penalty for Columbus. The replay showed what looked to be both players cleanly going for the ball, but no matter: VAR didn't overturn the call because it wasn't a clear and obvious error.
Dániel Gazdag converted the penalty to give Columbus a 1-0 lead.
About 10 minutes into the second half, New York City striker Alonso Martínez had the ball in the penalty box and was running towards goal when he was taken out by Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. Boiko waved on play, seemingly because it was a fifty-fifty ball.
At the risk of stating the obvious, consistency is important when it comes to officiating. If the first sequence was a penalty, then arguably the second should have been as well.
In the end, this game was determined by an exquisite last-minute goal, not the officiating, and for that reason it won't join the list of unfortunate matches listed above.
Hudson River Blue Staff
