One-nil to the Pigeons: New York City with a statement win at Cincinnati

New York City FC kept a clean sheet against FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium, earning a well-worked 1-0 away win against a team that started the matchday at the top of the Eastern Conference.

It was arguably NYCFC's most disciplined performance of the year as the team silenced MVP candidate Evander (16 goals, 8 assists) and $16.2 million striker Kévin Denkey (13 goals, 1 assist) in front of an unfriendly crowd of 25,513. And it was a tactical masterclass from New York City head coach Pascal Jansen, whose team commanded the midfield, suffocating Evander while stretching the Cincinnati defense by using long balls to release Alonso Martínez, who scored the game-winner in the 55th minute — and silenced the sold-out stadium.

NYCFC now have four wins in five games, with three of those coming on the road. The team remain stalled in 8th Place in the highly competitive Eastern Conference despite the blistering run of form. But NYCFC are just three points off Orlando City in 4th Place with two games in hand, and as they continue to outplay the top teams in the East, they are now making an argument to be considered among the best clubs in MLS this season.

NYCFC's defense lock it down

In last week's 2-1 home win over Nashville SC, the New York City defense got off to a shaky start, allowing the visitors to dominate the opening run of play and score in the 10th minute. NYCFC grew into the game, completely shutting down Nashville in the second half to earn three points at Yankee Stadium.

Lesson learned. In last night's win, New York City never allowed Cincinnati to feel comfortable in possession. NYCFC pressed when Cincinnati had the ball, with Andrés Perea or Aiden O'Neill closing down Evander to deny him the space he needs to play his free-flowing game. Evander was still dangerous, creating three chances and taking four shots (two on target), but as you can see from the passing networks and G+ ratings below (courtesy of MLS Analytics), the NYCFC press isolated the No 10, labeled as the CAM (Central Attacking Midfielder), disconnecting him from the rest of the Cincinnati attack.

The muzzling of Evander was a team effort. When Perea had to come off in the 43rd minute with an injury after colliding with Evander, Jansen brought on the defensive-minded Jonny Shore rather than the more attack-oriented Julián Fernández. The midfield's primary priority was to mark Evander out of the game and snuff out Cincinnati's creativity. It worked. Evander finished the night with the highest G+ rating for Cincinnati, but his 56 was well behind his historic performances, and the rest of the team went down with him.

MLS | Goals Allowed*

* Through 8/24/25

The shutout is Matt Freese's seventh clean sheet of the year, setting a new personal best by beating the six he earned in 2024. It puts him in a five-way tie for 4th Place on NYCFC's all-time list for clean sheets in the regular season.

New York City have allowed just 30 goals in 2025, the second-fewest in the league behind Supporters' Shield-leading Philadelphia Union, who have 26. It's worth noting that Cincinnati (34 goals) and Nashville (32 goals) are among the league leaders, and that NYCFC put a combined three goals past both.

Cincinnati's strongest run of play came late in the game during the final minutes of regulation and into stoppage time. Head coach Pat Noonan's attacking substitutes were shifting the momentum, and New York City's tired legs were struggling to keep up. The defense bent, but it didn't break, and a game that could have seen a late equalizer for Cincinnati finished as a New York City win.

If defenses win championships, then the return of Thiago Martins to the lineup – and the possible addition of Raul Gustavo – bodes well for the team. Already, New York City's ability to lock down players like Evander or Nashville's Hany Mukhtar could make things interesting as we enter the final phase of the season.

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Hudson River BlueAndrew Leigh

New York City 1-0 FC Cincinnati: 4 Thoughts

NYCFC knock off Conference-leading Cincinnati with an impressive road win behind Alonso Martínez’s 14th goal of the season and Matt Freese’s 7th clean sheet.

Hudson River BlueMatthew Mangam

Total football

While this could be considered a defensive win, the fact is that NYCFC ended the night with three points and not a scoreless draw. The midfield pressed when it didn't have the ball, and stretched the Cincinnati defense when in possession.

At times, NYCFC would move the ball through quick passing networks, looking for space and probing the Cincinnati defense. At times, they would look for line-breaking passes, and try to split two central defenders in Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund who aren't particularly quick. And at times, NYCFC would send a ball over the top to try to release Martínez, and let him do Martínez things.

Is this combination offense Pascalball? In the past, NYCFC could be so possession-focused that promising fast breaks were slowed down in order to play a clean pass. Last night, the team easily shifted between measured build-up and lightning-fast runs at the goal, bringing the ball up the wings in one sequence then going direct at the goal in another.

Cincinnati had difficulty handling the change of pace. Track Martínez, and you allow Nico Fernández and Maxi Moralez to create in the middle. Close down Nico and Maxi, and you allow Martínez to run in from behind.

And then there's O'Neill, whose ability to unleash NYCFC's offense from the defensive end of the midfield is vital to the team's success. Last week, O'Neill began the sequence that led to the game-winning goal over Nashville when he dispossessed Mukhtar. In that run of play, O'Neill sent the ball to Maxi, who slotted a pass to Agustín Ojeda, whose inch-perfect curling cross was finished by Martínez. Last night, O'Neill jumped on a Brian Anunga's miscontrolled ball, one-touching it to Maxi, who then released Martínez with a pass into the final third.

The quality of O'Neill's ball to Maxi is key. It's a pass, not a clearance, a sharp and precise ball to Maxi's feet – which is where he likes it. The pace of the pass gives Maxi time to control the ball, turn, and find a Martínez who is already making the run.

And what a run it was. Martínez took two touches to beat three Cincinnati defenders, then another to send it past Roman Celentano. The 6'3" goalkeeper rushed at Martínez to close down space, but El Clínico kept his cool and lifted the ball so that it sailed to the left side of Celentano in that awkward space between his arm and his leg.

The buildup is best viewed in the clip above from Apple TV, but to fully appreciate the pace and clinicality of Martínez, you should watch the clip below, which was taken from the stands.

O'Neill (#21 below) sent more passes into the final third than any player on the field. His 11 passes were More than the two No 10s in Maxi (7), Evander (7), and his Cincinnati counterpart Anunga (6). While you wouldn't consider O'Neill to be a deep-lying playmaker – he doesn't pull the strings as much as make smart passes – his contributions to the attack add another layer to a New York City attack that has 10 goals in five games, four of which were played on the road.

The Eastern Conference is tough

And for all of that, NYCFC ended the matchday where they started on the table, in 8th Place in the Eastern Conference and 11th Place overall with 44 points after 26 games. It's the team's fourth consecutive week in 8th Place in the East, and third week in 11th.

That's because the East is unusually competitive this year. If NYCFC were in the West, they would be in 4th Place, ahead of LAFC and Seattle Sounders. To look at it another way, CF Montréal finished the 2024 season in 8th Place with 43 points; this year, the 8th-Place team could have 55 points.

But if you look at the larger picture, things look promising for New York City. Over the last 10 games, NYCFC have taken the most points (20, same as San Diego FC), scored the second-most goals (19, behind Inter Miami's 23), allowed the second-fewest goals (9, behind Philadelphia's 7), and have the highest goal differential (10) in Major League Soccer.

Even more impressive, NYCFC played seven of those 10 games on the road: New York City's league-best run of form has largely come as the away team.

The Eastern Conference is tough, but so are Jansen's NYCFC. The final eight games will be a challenge, and if recent results are any indication, then this team are more than up to the task.