New York City vs Red Bulls player ratings

New York City FC player ratings are determined by you, the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are the NYCFC player ratings from the wild 3-2 win over New York Red Bulls in the 32nd edition of the Hudson River Derby.

Just three days after New York City FC suffered their season-worst loss when they fell 4-0 to Inter Miami at Citi Field, the Boys in Blue bounced back with an energetic 3-2 win over New York Red Bulls in front of an announced crowd of more than 25,000 at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Your ratings reflect the positive result, with the Starting XI average coming in at 7.5.

There's much to commend about a team that found a way to beat a Red Bulls that had just two home losses coming into this game, and did it without Alonso Martínez in the Starting XI and Matt Freese in goal at the end of the game.

Three players received season-high ratings: Nico Fernández Mercau (8.5), Andrés Perea (8.3), and Raul Gustavo (7.7). Not to be a buzzkill, but maybe Raul Gustavo's rating should be a little higher, given that he was a defensive machine and provided the assist to Perea? After all, the FotMob bot gave him a 7.9.

No matter: We're here to praise these New York City players. Note that two of those listed above, Nico and Raul Gusatvo, joined the team in the summer transfer window. It bodes well that they're making important contributions in a win like this one, just as the squad gets ready to begin the playoffs.

Agustín Ojeda is your surprise choice for Player of the Match – his first since joining the club last year – despite the fact that he didn't contribute directly to a goal. Raul Gustavo is our unsurprising choice for the Player Spotlight, considering his major contributions on both sides of the ball. And Head Coach Pascal Jansen earns his eighth rating of 8.0 or higher this season — by comparison, you gave Nick Cushing a rating of 8.0 or higher just four times in two years, once in 2023 and three times in 2024.

Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.

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Hudson River BlueMichael Battista