Matchday 5: New York City vs Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field

New York City FC got wins in back-to-back games at home, but if they want to make it three straight, they'll need to beat the so-far-unbeaten Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field on Matchday 5.

It won't be an easy task, and New York City will have to do it without their leading scorer. Striker Alonso Martínez is one of four players unavailable to Pascal Jansen while away with their national teams.

Yes, this game occurs right in the middle of a FIFA international window, with Major League Soccer games played simultaneous to things like FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the Concacaf Nations League Finals. Columbus will also be missing four international players and has a handful more out injured, so whoever picks up points at Lower.com Field will do so while shorthanded thanks to MLS plowing through another international break.

New York City vs Columbus H2H

It's been all Crew in this fixture since 2022, with Columbus unbeaten across their last six meetings with New York City in all competitions. Last season these teams played two high-scoring, controversy-filled games during the MLS regular season, plus a tight 1-1 draw in the Leagues Cup Quarterfinals – the Crew won every time, on penalties in Leagues Cup.

During the most recent trip to Columbus on August 31, 2024, New York City had the lead after four minutes thanks to Alonso Martínez, and looked to have grabbed a 2-2 draw on a Mounsef Bakrar goal in the 86th minute. Instead, Columbus scored twice in stoppage time and left with a 4-2 win, with NYCFC blaming ref Ted Unkel postmatch for impeding Julián Fernández on the Crew's go-ahead goal. (Julián got a red card for confronting Unkel after the incident.)

Historically, trips to face the Crew in Ohio have not tended to go New York City's way. NYCFC's one, single, solitary away win in Columbus came on April 29, 2017, when Jack Harrison scored twice and Yangel Herrera once in a 3-2 victory. It's been a streak of 10 straight matches played at either Historic Crew Stadium or Lower.com Field without winning since then for New York City, which owns an all-time, all-competitions record of 1W-5D-8L in road games vs the Crew.

New York City Scouting Report

• Player Availability: Nico Cavallo (leg, Jansen said "groin area"), Malachi Jones (leg), Tayvon Gray (leg), and Andrés Perea (hip) are all out injured. Alonso Martínez (Costa Rica), Tomás Romero (El Salvador), Drew Baiera (United States U-18), and Zidane Yáñez (Chile U-17) are away with their national teams.
• Who will pick up the goalscoring slack with Alonso Martínez on Costa Rica duty? Martínez has scored 19 of NYCFC’s 60 goals in MLS matches played since the start of the 2024 regular season, and Alonso had two goals and one assist in the three games he played vs. the Crew in 2024.
• Can Mounsef Bakrar contribute while filling in for Martínez? Pascal Jansen spoke confidently of Bakrar in his pre-match press conference and the Algerian striker did pick up one of his four goals last season at Lower.com Field.
• Who will Pascal Jansen start in the midfield alongside Keaton Parks? 17-year-old Jonathan Shore has been in there for two straight, and would be in for another big test early in his career against Darlington Nagbe and the Crew. Could Swiss Army Knife Justin Haak play further upfield in this match alongside Parks in the double-pivot, with Birk Risa slotting into the back line next to Thiago Martins? We don't know, we're just asking questions that will be answered around 6:30 pm Eastern.
• If you need a refresher on what's going on with the Crew this season, turn to our latest edition of Oppo Research with Ty Fisher of Massive Report.

Oppo Research: 5 Things about Columbus Crew

Columbus is off to an unbeaten start despite the departure of star striker Cucho Hernández but will be depleted by injuries and international call-ups for their first 2025 meeting with NYCFC.

Hudson River BlueMatthew Mangam