Anybody above the age of 11 is old enough to remember when New York City FC made a habit of bombing out of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The club made the postseason in four of their first five years of existence, but compiled a dismal record of 2W-0D-6L as they found new ways to transform an otherwise competitive team into a postseason punching bag.
The club flipped the script in 2021, when NYCFC went undefeated to win MLS Cup, and now the organization ranks among the league elite when it comes to the playoffs. Over these past five years, NYCFC's seven regulation and three penalty shootout wins put them behind only LAFC — and just above Philadelphia Union.
New York City's 2025 campaign is adding to that run of form. Putting up two road wins over Charlotte FC made them the only lower-seeded team to advance through either the Wild Card Round or Round One this year, and saw them advance through the first playoff round for the fourth consecutive time.
Here are five numbers that shed some light on NYCFC's improving performances in the MLS Cup.
Hudson River Blue Staff
1. NYCFC's 1st postseason brace
On Friday, Nico Fernández Mercau became the first player in New York City history to score a brace in the MLS Cup Playoffs. He also became the 10th player on the team to score more than one goal in the postseason.
Alonso Martínez's two goals against Charlotte give him three goals overall, bringing him level with Taty Castellanos and David Villa. Maxi Moralez leads all NYCFC players with five postseason goals.
New York City FC | Postseason Goals by Player
| Player | G | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxi Moralez | 5 |
| 2 | Taty Castellanos | 3 |
| Alonso Martínez | 3 | |
| David Villa | 3 | |
| 5 | Maxime Chanot | 2 |
| Nico Fernández Mercau | 2 | |
| Héber | 2 | |
| Talles Magno | 2 | |
| Santiago Rodríguez | 2 | |
| Ismael Tajouri-Shradi | 2 | |
| 11 | Alex Callens | 1 |
| Andraž Struna | 1 | |
| Gabriel Periera | 1 | |
| Thiago Martins | 1 |
2. Pascal's 2nd win
Believe it or not, Friday's win makes Pascal Jansen one of the most successful NYCFC head coaches when it comes to the playoffs.
In part, that's because of the team's poor form in the early years, when they won just two games in four seasons under Patrick Vieira and Domé Torrent. And in part, it's because Ronny Deila's title run in 2021 included two draws that ended in shutout wins, which officially gives him a record of 2W-3D-0L.
Nick Cushing leads all head coaches with three wins in seven games.
New York City FC | Postseason Record by Head Coach
| Name | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | G/G | GA/G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pascal Jansen | 2025– | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 66.7% | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| Nick Cushing | 2022-24 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 42.9% | 1.4 | 1.1 |
| Ronny Deila | 2020-21 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 40.0% | 1.6 | 1.0 |
| Domé Torrent | 2018-19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 25.0% | 1.3 | 1.8 |
| Patrick Vieira | 2016-17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 25.0% | 0.8 | 2.8 |
| Jason Kreis | 2016 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 23 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 30 | 32 | -2 | 39.1% | 1.3 | 1.4 |
3. The Iceman's 3rd clean sheet
Matt Freese's two clean sheets give him three total in seven postseason appearances over two years. That brings him level with Sean Johnson, who logged three clean sheets in 14 postseason appearances over six years.
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