In a match where New York City FC proved once again that Lower.com Field is their bogey ground, the Boys in Blue managed to escape Columbus with a point after a dismal 0-0 draw with the Crew.
It's fair to say that NYCFC did not deserve a point from this fixture, as the Crew controlled the game flow from the 10-minute mark onward. Yet, like their counterparts in the visiting dugout, the Crew could not finish their chances, while Matt Freese put forth another strong display (thinking of Mauricio Pochettino perhaps), making five saves.
The scoreline only tells part of the story, as this result was the embodiment of the New York City squad crying out for additional support. Five matches into the season, and there's been no sign of an incoming replacement for Santi Rodríguez. As a result, Head Coach Pascal Jansen was forced to field three 17-year-olds off the bench Saturday night as players continued to pick up injuries.
The alarm bells for the squad are ringing, and this result should serve as a flashing red light for those in the NYCFC front office that more additions must be made to this young team.
New York City: 5 shots, 0 shots on target, 40.8% possession, 403 passes, 81.9% pass accuracy, 11 fouls, 5 saves
Columbus: 23 shots, 5 shots on target, 59.2% possession, 615 passes, 86.8% pass accuracy, 9 fouls, 0 saves
Attendance: 20,235
Shooting boots left in the Big Apple
After two straight matches where the Boys in Blue looked composed and clinical in front of the goal, Pascal Jansen's side put on its worst finishing display of the season. New York City FC finished the night with zero shots on target while mustering just five shots overall. Compared to the whopping 23 shots managed by the Crew, NYCFC looked lost up front without their prized Costa Rican talisman.
With Alonso Martínez away on international duty with Costa Rica for the CONCACAF Gold Cup Qualifiers, Saturday night was a chance for Mounsef Bakrar to prove to both Jansen and the fans that he was up to the task of serving as the understudy for El Cliníco. Unfortunately for the Algerian, his desperation to impress got the better of him, and he fell well short of the mark.
Grabbing his first start since the LAFC loss on March 1, Bakrar played 73 minutes while managing just one shot all night, a desperate strike from 30 yards that careened well wide of the Columbus goal. This 7th-minute effort would prove to be Bakrar's only real impact on the match, as the Algerian struggled to create and finish chances in behind for the Boys in Blue.
It wasn't just Bakrar who had an off night going forward. The entire NYCFC squad lacked that final clinical touch that could turn a promising passing movement into a goal. Wingers Hannes Wolf and Julian Fernández, starting opposite one another for the third straight match, combined for two total shots, as well as just three passes into the final third, while both failed to complete a single dribble before being substituted in the second half.
Even Maxi Moralez, who at 38 continues to age like a fine wine, fared poorly against Wilfried Nancy's side. The Argentine, a starter in all five New York City FC matches this season, attempted only one shot all night. While Moralez did lead the team in passes into the final third (9), providing a competent link between the midfield and the front three, no one in the NYCFC squad was able to find the finishing touch to send one of those passes past the 39-year-old backup shot-stopper Evan Bush in goal for the Crew.
Defense raising questions
The fact that Saturday night was an off-night in front of the goal for the Crew was simply a miracle for the Boys in Blue. Very rarely do teams manage to get 23 shots out of their forwards and not score a single goal. Unluckily for Columbus, they were attacking a goal guarded by an in-form Matt Freese, and one with a point to prove, after failing to be called up to Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT squad for the Nations League Finals.
The American had another Player of the Match-type performance, making five saves to keep out each of the Crew's five shots on target. Though Freese kept NYCFC in this fixture, the back four in front of him certainly made it difficult, as Pascal Jansen has more questions to answer regarding his preferred back four.
Saturday night saw the return of what many fans expected to be the everyday center-back pairing for New York City before this season: Birk Risa alongside Thiago Martins. Thanks to a preseason injury to Martins, and illness and poor form plaguing Risa early in the season, Jansen has had to shake things up before each 2025 match, with each iteration of his backline providing varying results. Matchday 5 vs. the Crew proved to be no different.
Thiago Martins, making his third straight start since being rushed back from injury during the second half of the LAFC game, looked lost in the first half as the Crew applied mounting pressure for nearly the entire half. As a result of this pressure, the hosts managed 10 corners, eight coming in the first half alone. Despite this, Thiago was still effective in progressing the ball forward, managing eight passes into the final third, acting as one of the only functioning creators on the night for NYCFC.
Though the Brazilian settled into the game and ultimately did his job by finishing with a clean sheet, Thiago looks not fully fit and firing. This stretch, after all, is essentially still the Brazilian's preseason, as Matty Lawrence pointed out during the NYCFC Radio Network broadcast of the match. Further complicating things, he was rushed back after two poor defensive displays from the combination of Risa and Strahinja Tanasijevic to open the season, jeopardizing his recovery for all the world to see. Yet, despite this, the experienced Brazilian still managed to bail out the Boys in Blue numerous times in defense, proving how valuable he is to this backline, even when he's not at his best.
Hudson River Blue Staff
In regards to Risa, he, too, wasn't terrible in Columbus, weathering an onslaught of pressure all night. The Norwegian had shaky moments at times but still managed to win 66% of his duels while not being dribbled past once. That said, Risa didn't make a single tackle on the night and was bailed out a few times by his center-back partner Thiago Martins, as was fullback Kevin O'Toole, who lost nine of his 11 duels and was dribbled past three times.
Overall, it's fair to say that questions surrounding Pascal Jansen's backline continue to swirl, as the Boys in Blue did not look particularly confident at the back all night long. However, the fact that this group weathered the Columbus Crew storm for 97 minutes is a positive sign, though allowing the Crew to attempt so many shots in the first place still leaves questions. It remains to be seen how Jansen responds to this defensive performance, and with players like Tayvon Gray yet to return from injury, NYCFC fans could be in for more configurations as Jansen continues to experiment with this backline.
Squad depth: A growing concern
Three 17-year-olds came off the bench for New York City FC Saturday night, two of which came on for their first-team debuts for the club. While the inclusion of such promising youth is a sign that Jansen has immense trust in the young players of this NYCFC squad, it's also a warning sign that the squad is desperately thin and in need of reinforcements.
After Keaton Parks went down with an injury in the 35th minute, Jansen was forced into his first substitution of the match, bringing on 17-year-old midfield starboy Jonny Shore to fill the void in midfield. After a Player of the Match performance vs. Orlando City, expectations for the teenager have been at an all-time high. Saturday night, though, Shore put on a display more reflective of his age, confident but not all put together. Having to quickly adjust to the flow of the game amid a dominant display from the Crew, Shore came on and did his job, completing 83% of his passes while doing what he could to make up for Parks' absence defensively. Like the rest of the NYCFC squad, it simply wasn't a stellar day at the office for the young midfielder.
During the second half, however, was when Jansen made two substitutions that caught the eyes of everybody watching. In the 73rd minute, NYCFC II stars Máximo Carrizo and Seymour Reid, both 17 years old, were brought on for their MLS debuts with New York City FC.
Carrizo, the long-talked-about heir to the Santi Rodríguez or Maxi Moralez throne in the No 10 role, came on for Hannes Wolf, while Reid replaced Bakrar up top, becoming the youngest player to debut in club history at just 17 years and 18 days old.
Though both failed to impact the game in a significant way, combining for just 14 touches on the ball overall, it was a significant moment for both the players and the club, representing another win for the strong youth development process the club has been determined to enhance and utilize over the past few seasons.
Though it was nice to see Reid and Carrizo make their debuts for the First Team, their inclusion in this fixture should raise more concerns about the state of the squad than anything else. After Santi Rodríguez was sold to Brazilian side Botafogo on February 22, the NYCFC front office has yet to acquire his replacement, opting instead to place a great deal of pressure on the shoulders of a 38-year-old Maxi Moralez to pick up the slack in that position.
Andrew Leigh
It's clear that this decision, along with the lack of a suitable replacement for midfielder James Sands, has left Jansen's squad desperately thin. With another injury befalling the roster, this time to Keaton Parks, these depth concerns will only continue to grow the longer the club goes without addressing the situation.
Yes, a point away from home vs the Columbus Crew, a fixture NYCFC has only won once since 2017, is a positive result, but it could've been drastically different. The Boys in Blue were lucky not to have conceded one, two, or even three goals, thanks to the heroics of Matt Freese, but that's not guaranteed every week. NYCFC must be able to threaten opposing defenses if Alonso Martínez is on the field or not. That will only be possible if more reinforcements are given to Jansen to bolster this squad going forward.
If New York City FC wants to remain in the conversation as a top player in the Eastern Conference, scraping 0-0 draws vs the Columbus Crew won't be enough. Goals win games, and Saturday night proved that goals may be in short supply if the conditions aren't perfect for the Boys in Blue, a clear-cut sign that additions must be made before more critical starters begin to burn out.
n/a
Officials
• Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
• Assistant referees: Jason White, Stephen McGonagle
• Fourth official: Nabil Bensalah
• VAR: Michael Radchuk
• Assistant VAR: TJ Zablocki
