• Matchday 11: New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati
• Date and Time: Sunday, May 4 at 3:00 pm ET
• Venue: Citi Field, Queens, NY
• Forecast: Breezy, rain, 66F/19C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Josh Eastern and Jamie Watson (English), Oscar Salazar and Jaime Macias (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Drew Fischer (referee), Lyes Arfa and Jeffrey Swartzel (assistant referees), Guido Gonzales Jr. (fourth official), Jose Carlos Rivero (VAR), Jonathan Johnson (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will be in the black-and-neon 24/7 Kit for just the second time this year; Cincinnati will wear the white Canvas Kit.
New York City FC are looking for their fifth win of the season as they host an in-form FC Cincinnati who went into this matchday sitting on top of the Eastern Conference.
For their part, Cincinnati are looking to extend their league-best five-game winning streak – three of which came on the road – despite fielding a middling attack that scored just 15 times (7th in the East) and a leaky defense that allowed 12 goals (7th in the East).
NYCFC defied the odds to knock Cincinnati out of the MLS Cup Playoffs when they last met in November, but these are two very different teams today. FCC lost club talisman Luciano Acosta, but they replaced him with Evander, then added striker Kévin Denkey — both have 6 goals each going into this afternoon's game. New York City sold Santiago Rodríguez at the start of the season and have yet to replace him, instead relying on the magnificent but aging legs of Maxi Moralez to run the midfield.
Most important, it's Star Wars Day at Citi Field: There will be a Star Wars pin giveaway, and other lightsaber-themed fun at the pregame FanFast. May the Fourth be with you.
Oliver Strand
New York City vs Cincinnati H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 26 | 10 |
The historic head-to-head between the two clubs heavily favors New York City, who won eight of 17 games played. That's due largely to Cincinnati's early years when they were easily the worst club in the league: NYCFC compiled a record of 6W-0D-0L the first three years the two teams met with 22 goals scored and just five allowed.
But then Cincinnati became one of the best teams in the league, and the results shifted heavily in their favor. FCC put together a five-game winning streak in all competitions that ran from May of 2023 through October of last year, when New York City finally broke the spell with a 3-2 win at the venue formerly known as Red Bull Arena.
The two then met three times in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs. The record ended with an even 1W-1D-1L, but New York City advanced after prevailing in a wild penalty kick shootout that saw 18 players go to the spot, and that was won by the ice-cold Mitja Ilenič.
Andrew Leigh
New York City Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Mitja Ilenič (leg) and Kevin O'Toole (leg) are out, as are Malachi Jones (leg) and Jacob Arroyave (knee).
• Will Jonny Shore be in the Starting XI? The 18-year-old started in every one of NYCFC's four wins so far this season, and he's just 76' shy of breaking Andres Jasson's record for the most minutes played by a Homegrown in their debut season.
• This will be New York City's 25th match played at Citi Field since 2017. The Boys in Blue boast an all-time/all-competitions record of 12W-6D-6L in previous trips to Citi with a +8 goal differential (34 scored, 26 conceded) and they're off to a perfect start in the borough this year thanks to Matchday 8's win vs Philadelphia.
• Alonso Martínez scored the game-winner vs Philly and he's scored in each of New York City's last two home matches vs Cincinnati, including their playoff meeting in Queens. Citi Field has been comfortable of late for the Costa Rican, but then again, he's feasted at home no matter the venue: 15 of his 24 career goals scored with New York City, 62.5%, have come in home games.
• Will we see Aiden O'Neill in Queens? Seems unlikely, as New York City's big signing this transfer window "will join the Club upon the receipt of his P-1 Visa," according to the team's official announcement of his acquisition. When asked about a potential timeline for O'Neill's visa being secured, Head Coach Pascal Jansen said "If I had something to say about that, I hope tomorrow."
Jansen on Aiden O'Neill: "He has a very high standard, attributes for every phase: Can connect in build-up, play box-to-box. What we're going to be working on when he arrives: in the final third, assists and goals." When will O'Neill arrive? "If I had something to say about that, I hope tomorrow."
— Hudson River Blue (@hudsonriverblue.com) 2025-05-02T19:50:24.147Z
• To get the intel on Cincinnati, read Matthew Mangam's latest Oppo Research with Laurel Pfahler of Queen City Press. She gives us insight into what isn't quite clicking at FCC, and why they're still putting up winning results.
Matthew Mangam
