New York City FC played Houston Dynamo FC on Matchday 16 at Yankee Stadium on an ugly, cold, rainy night and the home team lost in ugly fashion, falling 3-0 to the visiting Western Conference team.
This snapped a mini-winning streak after NYCFC had won two straight home games and looked generally solid while going unbeaten in three. Their defense had been stingy, allowing only one goal in those previous three games, but that all went to pieces against Houston Dynamo, as former NYCFC striker Gabe Segal scored a brace to punish his ex-teammates.
Now that the loss is official, here are 4 Thoughts on everything that went down at Yankee Stadium during the Dynamo's 3-0 away win.
Hudson River Blue Staff
1. The Gabe Segal Revenge Game
This was not at all a memorable performance for New York City FC, but it was another memorable game against New York City FC from a former Pigeon. This game made it two players who enjoyed big performances while facing their ex-team in 2025 for the first time. Luis Barraza kept a hard-earned clean sheet in DC United's 0-0 draw with NYCFC at Audi Field, but that might have paled in comparison to what former New York City striker Gabe Segal produced at Yankee Stadium in his first game back in the Bronx since 2023.
Segal earned his first start of the 2025 season for Houston while the Dynamo were operating without their leading goalscorer and Designated Player attacker, the Argentine Ezequiel Ponce, who leads Houston with four goals this season. Segal was the next man up for Houston at striker and he seemed to relish the chance to face the team he spent much of the 2023 season with before leaving for Israel on loan. The former Stanford University player almost scored in the first half, getting past a flailing Thiago Martins and in clear on goal before being denied by Matt Freese.
Freese couldn't stop Segal's second big moment. A rebound from an initial save on an Erik Duenas shot fell perfectly into the path of Segal who made no mistake with a poacher's finish – and ever the gentleman, Segal refused to celebrate against his former team and in front of the NYCFC supporters' section. Segal wasn't done, though. Nico Cavallo committed a boneheaded penalty in second-half stoppage time, and that gave Segal a chance to step up to the spot – and convert his PK to earn a brace against NYCFC, in their 3-0 win.
Segal had a strange path to Houston Dynamo, with NYCFC loaning him out to a club in Israel in late-summer 2023 before the entire Israeli league shut down due to the horrific events of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on a music festival in the country. He came back to the United States then moved to Houston for the 2024 season where he's remained, and on this rainy night in the Bronx, he got a moment to remember by scoring for a second time in his career at Yankee Stadium – once for NYCFC in 2023, now once for Houston in 2025.
2. Another Bronx comeback (attempt)
New York City again fell behind while playing at Yankee Stadium. Once Justin Haak headed into his own goal to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead, it meant NYCFC had trailed in five of the six matches played in the Bronx in 2025. That was the way it went against Chicago Fire only three days before this Houston game when Philip Zinckernagel gave the Fire an early lead. Playing comeback soccer has mixed results, as NYCFC rallied to beat Chicago, like they rallied to beat New England Revolution.
The rally was not on the cards against Houston in part thanks to Segal's dagger of a second goal in the second half, and this performance felt much more like the 1-2 loss to Minnesota United FC earlier this season, despite Houston having what you'd think is a much less imposing attack.
Even with Houston's lineup heavily rotated and with the Dynamo missing their leading scorer, and with New York City's generally strong record while playing home matches this season, Houston controlled things in the Bronx. Coming from behind is a tough task when New York City's attacking players continue to struggle with consistency and with being consistently threatening.
Mark Radigan
3. Styles clash between New York City, Dynamo
So far in 2025, both Houston and New York City are among the top 10 MLS teams when it comes to the amount of possession they hold during their matches, NYCFC at 52.6% and Houston at 51.9%, according to FBRef.com.
Both teams want possession and want to break their opponent down with their passing games. This wasn't like when another less familiar Western Conference opponent, the aforementioned Minnesota, came to Yankee Stadium. Minnesota had no interest in possession and waited to pounce on the counterattack – which worked for them, they walked out of the Bronx 2-1 winners and controlled the game for the majority of the 90 minutes, and the Loons continue to be at the very bottom of the MLS possession standings, the same ones that show NYCFC and Houston in the top 10.
New York City had all the possession in this game – over 60% – but did nothing with it, while Houston looked fluid in passing during their few moments of danger in the match. The Houston attack is not what you'd call intimidating, as the Dynamo entered Yankee Stadium with the second-lowest non-penalty expected goals (npxG) number, 13.3, of the 30 MLS teams. NYCFC handed them an opening due to the mistake at the back by Justin Haak, so the struggling Houston attack had less work to do to get the three points.
4. The Vibe: Frigid, soggy, tired?
The weather was awful at Yankee Stadium, raining throughout the 90 minutes and surprisingly cold and breezy for a game taking place days after Memorial Day and on the cusp of the dawn of the month of June.
The schedule has been congested, with NYCFC playing on Sunday afternoon against Chicago. Pascal Jansen rolled with the identical Starting XI he used during that Chicago game, but did the quick turnaround contribute to this putrid performance against Houston? The two wins on the bounce over Red Bulls and Chicago seemed to point toward a cohesive unit forming and enjoying sustained success, but this loss had to raise questions about this exact group of players.
It's no given more rotation in the lineup would have produced a better result against Houston, but the performance this same team put out three days after an impressive win over Chicago makes it easy to second-guess Jansen's approach. Depth isn't plentiful in this year's team, but this group looked worn down and not likely to come back while playing most of the evening from behind against the Dynamo. Perhaps they'll be more revitalized by the trip to Nashville this weekend, or perhaps what they really need is the international break that will follow the Nashville game.
