• Matchday 2: Philadelphia Union vs New York City FC
• Date and Time: Sunday, March 1, 4:30 pm ET
• Venue: Subaru Park, Chester, PA
• Forecast: Crisp and cool, 40F/4C
• Watch: Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Callum Williams and Lori Lindsey (English), Bruno Vain and Andres Agulla (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Chris Penso (referee), Kathryn Nesbitt and Eric Weisbrod (assistant referees), Luis Diego Arroyo (4th official), Daniel Radford and Jonathan Johnson (VAR)
• Kits: New York City are in the sky-blue Excelsior Kit, Philadelphia in the dark-blue 1776 Kit introduced this season
It's Matchday 2, and New York City FC is in the suburbs of the City of Brotherly Love to face Philadelphia Union. Both teams are looking for their first win of the season after NYCFC drew LA Galaxy 1-1 on the road despite finishing up a player, and the Union lost to DC United after former Philadelphia striker Tai Baribo scored against his old team.
If New York City are to get the win, they'll need to compensate for the lack of a proper No 9: Last week, the squad combined for zero shots on target from open play, with the team's lone goal courtesy of a penalty converted by Nico Fernández Mercau.
Nico will likely serve as the team's nominal No 9 again today, even though, as Andrew Leigh noted in these pages, he isn’t a traditional striker. Instead, he prefers "to drop into the midfield" and "try to cut in from the wide areas." Or, we might get a longer look at Talles Magno, who appeared as a late-game substitute in Los Angeles. Could he return to the striker role that was handed to him in 2023, and that he was asked to hand back in 2024?
On the other end of the field, a rebuilt Philadelphia are looking to discover their league form. The team that won the Supporters' Shield last year lost key players in Baribo, defender Jakob Glesnes, and wingback Kai Wagner — Philadelphia are known for shedding their skin every offseason, moving established players in order to bring in new talent, so there’s nothing new here. But they will be without their marquee signing this transfer window after striker Ezequiel Alladoh earned a red card against DC, thinning out the squad.
The referee today will be Chris Penso, who officiated three New York City games last year — all of which were 1-0 losses. Penso called more fouls on NYCFC than on their opponents by a combined 46 to 26, and showed the Pigeons more yellow cards by a combined 7 to 4.
Andrew Leigh
New York City vs Philadelphia H2H
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 13 | 2 | 12 | 37 | 39 | -2 |
