New York City FC opened the 2025 Major League Soccer season by letting a late lead slip in second-half stoppage time, settling for a 2-2 draw with Inter Miami CF at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Here are four final whistle thoughts coming out of NYCFC's first match of 2025 and a first point earned on Matchday 1 of a season since way back in the year 2019.
Hudson River Blue Staff
1. Winless opener streak continues
It looked like we might see a rare NYCFC win on Matchday 1, but nope, instead it was another late goal conceded to cost the team points. They haven't pulled off a season-opening win since the 2018 season when they traveled to Kansas City, Kansas and beat Sporting KC to open Patrick Vieira's final season at the helm. This draw is a decent point earned, but the two points dropped sting extra hard considering how close NYCFC was to holding on for a win over a 10-player Miami.
The first 15 minutes of this match were chaotic and saw NYCFC fall behind and look headed to another opening-day defeat, but things flipped entirely when Aviles got sent off and New York City looked like a composed, veteran team while holding off a 10-player Miami team that at times looked tired and leggy after their midweek match in freezing-cold Kansas. The problem: NYCFC never found that killer third goal to put the match away, and left themselves vulnerable to one more moment from Messi and company – a moment that arrived at 90'+10' and kicked off another wave of disappointment, something that happened a little too often in 2024.
2. Normal service resumes for El Clínico
New York City announced the long-expected sale of Santiago Rodríguez to Botafogo in Brazil 90 minutes before they kicked their season off against Miami. Post-Santi, the attacking player Pascal Jansen most needs to step up and remain productive in front of goal is Alonso Martínez, and he did exactly that in the opener in South Florida. The Costa Rican striker's movement and runs in behind threatened the high defensive line of the Herons all night long, even with Martínez whistled as offside a few times while pressing the limits of Miami's defensive line.
NYCFC's service up to Martínez regularly troubled Miami, with the best example coming on the play that saw the home team reduced to 10 players when Aviles had to drag Martínez down while the striker had a clear look at Oscar Ustari's goal. The threat from Martínez was constant, though his go-ahead goal came thanks in large part to an errant pass straight to him from Jordi Alba. Still, the man we dubbed El Clínico last season for his consistently great finishing had to live up to the moniker when he received that "pass" from Jordi Alba, and did just that to open his 2025 account. The goals will need to keep coming this year if NYCFC hopes to reach its goals.
3. Miami's bogey club?
There were questions pre-match around how much Miami would rotate its lineup following the frigid midweek match the team played in Concacaf Champions Cup against Sporting Kansas City, but they still entered as favorites at home against a depleted New York City side.
In the end, all of Miami's big-name ex-Barcelona stars – Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquest, and Jordi Alba – started this game, but they continued to struggle to solve New York City FC. Lionel Messi did get his first two assists of 2025 on the Aviles opening goal and last-gasp equalizer, but he wasn't his lethal, otherworldly self in front of Matt Freese's goal. Jordi Alba handed NYCFC their go-ahead goal, while Suárez was hooked after 58 minutes without making much impact (except for on Birk Risa's neck). The Supporters' Shield winners looked downright human in this game, much as they have each time they've faced NYCFC since the super team was assembled. They grabbed a point deep into stoppage time thanks to another moment of Messi brilliance and a perfect chipped finish by Telasco Segovia.
4. Pascal's preferences
Preseason was a first but not serious opportunity for scrutinizing Head Coach Pascal Jansen and what he'll change about New York City FC this year. Now that a real official match has been played, it's interesting to see the first consequential decisions made by Jansen. That included having Justin Haak slot in for James Sands in defensive midfield while handing Agustín Ojeda a start at left-wing.
Jansen also handed Jonathan Shore and Nico Cavallo their MLS debuts in the second half while showing a willingness to tap into Justin Haak's versatility – Haak finished the game at center-back, so if you're keeping score at home, that seems to make Haak No 3 on the team's current healthy center-back depth chart. Jansen didn't take chances leaving Strahinja Tanasijević on for the match's second half after the Serbian defender picked up a yellow card and really pushed his luck by committing another foul shortly thereafter that could have easily seen him sent off before halftime.
There was no hesitation from Jansen to turn to the bench even though he lacked experienced options on it, with five players to choose from as subs who had not yet made their MLS debuts. It's only one game, but still interesting to see who is where in Jansen's Circle of Trust after preseason.
