New York City FC played their first home Major League Soccer match since July 3, coming back to beat Nashville SC 2-1 at Yankee Stadium on Matchday 25.
This match started a crucial 10-game dash to the end of the season for New York City as they look to finish the MLS regular season strong and solidify their positioning in the MLS Cup Playoffs. This result against Nashville helps them climb the table and keeps the club in 8th Place in the Eastern Conference heading into a tough road test against FC Cincinnati on Matchday 26 next weekend.
For now, here are four assorted thoughts on New York City's winning start to the final push of their 2025 season.
1. Rough start
Nashville SC came out firing in this match and could have had a goal inside three minutes. Sam Surridge had a shot on target in the first minute, Jacob Shaffelburg (remember that name) put an unmarked header just wide of the frame of goal, all before five minutes had elapsed at Yankee Stadium. New York City looked to be on the defensive from the start, not like a team champing at the bit to start their critical end-of-season run-in on the right foot.
The visitors struck first and deservedly so in the ninth minute when Shaffelburg got in behind the NYCFC defense, a defensive line that was pulled out of position and trying to set its line of engagement up at the center-circle. The trio of Kevin O'Toole, Justin Haak, and Strahinja Tanasijević paid the price for the risk of a high defensive line, with certified NYCFC killer Hany Mukhtar (four goals, three assists in eight matches vs. New York City in his career) sliding a perfect pass into the path of Shaffelburg who placed his shot past Freese and into the corner of goal.
This became the sixth match played at home this season in which NYCFC went behind and had to chase the game. They came back to beat both Chicago Fire FC and New England Revolution in games in which those teams took leads over NYCFC at Yankee Stadium, and against Nashville, they managed to pull off that same trick for a third time.
2. A long wait, a late surge
Right after Perea equalized, this match entered a lengthy weather delay due to thunderstorms that passed through the New York City region. The teams left the field with the clock frozen on 41 minutes played and didn't return for over an hour, then oddly played out only the final five minutes and change of the first half before heading back into their dressing rooms for 15 more minutes of halftime.
After the final break of the match, New York City came out and took control in the second half. Alonso Martínez was kept quiet for most of the first half but that changed across the second 45 minutes, with the Costa Rican striker coming to life and eventually finding the match-winner.
The addition of Agustín Ojeda as a second-half substitute made a huge difference for Jansen's team, as the Argentine got the assist on Martínez's goal after using his pace to get behind the Nashville defense up his left wing. He played a precise trivela cross to Martínez on the goal, and was generally a menace to what looked like a tired Nashville defense as the match winded down. New York City didn't start this game well but they finished it firmly on the front foot while putting Nashville under heavy pressure.
3. First look at NYCFC's attacking A-team
Pascal Jansen finally had a chance to roll out his best group of attacking players against Nashville. Hannes Wolf returned to the Starting XI after playing limited minutes during Leagues Cup – he didn't start any of NYCFC's three games in the tournament, only logging 31 minutes as a second-half substitute against Deportivo Toluca FC in the Phase One finale.
Since Nico Fernández Mercau arrived, Jansen hadn't had the opportunity to see how his attack performed with all of Wolf, Nico, Maxi Moralez, and Alonso Martínez out there. The Nashville match provided a first glimpse of what this new-look attack is capable of, and the return of Hannes Wolf paid immediate dividends, with the Austrian picking up the filthy nutmeg assist to Andrés Perea on his equalizing goal. This fearsome attacking foursome didn't exactly pull Nashville apart, but you could see that the potential is there with this NYCFC front four.
4. 10 finals?
Pascal Jansen said in his pre-match press conference before the Nashville clash that every remaining regular-season match for his team was "like a final." Nine of the 10 games they'll play in this last stretch of their MLS regular season are against other Eastern Conference clubs, and the majority of those in-conference foes are jockeying directly with NYCFC for playoff positioning.
The urgency from New York City only seemed to resemble that of a team in a final once they fell behind, but they got the result at home that they needed against one of the Eastern Conference's top teams. Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar were dangerous in moments but NYCFC's makeshift back line – still playing without injured Thiago Martins and in-visa-limbo Raul Gustavo – held their own and held on for the win.
This was an uneven performance but it's still one to build on for NYCFC as they head into nine more finals to close this season. It won't be easy in Cincinnati, either, but these three points will build confidence as the team heads back onto the road.
Andrew Leigh
