New York City FC player ratings are determined by Hudson River Blue readers: Here are your NYCFC player ratings after grinding out a hard-fought 2-3 road win over Toronto FC.
New York City FC finally found a win on the road after an electric 2-3 victory across the border against Toronto FC. The scrappy affair was NYCFC’s first win at BMO Field since 2018.
With three goals scored for the first time all season, and a win away from home, you provided some improved player ratings — especially when compared to last outing's 0-2 home loss to Colorado Rapids. This week's ratings saw four New York City players with ratings in the 8s, along with two more in the 7s.
You gave goalkeeper Matt Freese a team-best 8.6 on the night, which was higher than his 7.7 from FotMob. The shot-stopper allowed two goals, but he also made a season-high nine saves — Freese was key in halting Toronto’s second-half push, and preserving the win for New York City.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Alonso Martínez, off 69' (6.3) – 5.5
Santiago Rodríguez , off 95' (8.1) – 8.0
Hannes Wolf, off 90' (8.5) – 8.2
Malachi Jones, off 69' (7.8) – 8.1
Andrés Perea (7.5) – 7.7
James Sands (6.8) – 7.2
Kevin O'Toole (6.3) – 6.5
Trayvon Gray (6.9) – 5.4
Thiago Martins (6.8) – 6.9
Birk Risa (6.4) – 6.7
Matt Freese (7.7) – 8.6
Keaton Parks, on 69' (6.7) – 5.9
Agustín Ojeda, on 69' (6.5) – 6.4
Strahinja Tanasijević, on 90' (NR) – 5.6
Andres Jasson, on 95' (NR) – 5.8
Player Spotlight
Malachi Jones
The eighth overall pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft has officially arrived. With just 108 minutes of playing time in MLS before this game, Malachi Jones earned his first start for New York City, and took full advantage of it. Jones showcased his talents and potential for all to see, and caused havoc along New York City’s left wing for a little over an hour.
The Sierra Leone native put in an energetic display and showed no fear while taking on defenders with his pace and technical ability. He created chances for his teammates all night, then converted a chance himself in the 44th minute.
Hearts up for Mother's Day 🫶 pic.twitter.com/zxwNnccPeG
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) May 12, 2024
The 20-year-old wanted the ball at his feet as often as possible throughout the game, and his willingness to drive at defenders led to numerous set-piece opportunities in the final third. Jones left the game in the 69th minute after picking up a knock, but it didn't look like anything too serious
You gave Jones an 8.1 rating, which is only slightly higher than the 7.8 awarded by FotMob.
Nick Cushing – 7.1
This well-earned win brought head coach Nick Cushing his highest rating of the year so far.
Toronto's Federico Bernardeschi managed to score, but NYCFC's defense was out to frustrate him all night, double-teaming him on occasion and giving him little space to create. With fellow Italian Lorenzo Insigne on the bench (it was first game back since March 23 due to injury), Cushing focused his defense mainly on disrupting Bernardeschi. That frustration boiled over for the winger, who received two yellow cards for dissent during the match.
Two of the surprise starters in Cushing's rotated lineup scored against Toronto. A solid defense and an explosive offense contributed to Cushing’s impressive rating.
Lukasz Szpala – 3.4
You were clearly not too pleased with Lukasz Szpala's performance, awarding him a whopping 3.4. Szpala struggled to grab hold of what was a scrappy game, despite showing three yellow cards in the first half alone. Szpala also did not call for a penalty for New York City in the first half and needed help from VAR to award the penalty.
Szpala handed out seven yellows in the match’s entirety, but failed to discipline players throughout multiple shoving matches throughout the game, highlighting his lack of grip on the match.
Player of the Match
Hannes Wolf
A dazzling display from Hannes Wolf against Toronto ended with two assists, earning him his first Player of the Match award this season: The Austrian winger is becoming one of New York City’s key players as we move toward the midpoint of this MLS season.
You gave Wolf an 8.2 rating after his influential performance Saturday night, which is slightly lower than his 8.5 rating from FotMob rating. Wolf started 11 of 12 MLS matches New York City played this season, and earned a FotMob rating of 7.0 or higher in five of them.
Wolf’s dynamic runs and unselfishness resulted in four created chances. He was instrumental in all three of New York City’s goals. Not only did he get two assists, he even earned the penalty that Santiago Rodríguez converted for NYCFC's first goal when he provided the cross that struck the outstretched arm of former Newcastle United midfielder Matty Longstaff.
Remember the name. pic.twitter.com/dQq1ejltyD
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) May 12, 2024
Wolf’s highlight of the match came in the 44th minute, when he demonstrated his strength, winning the ball and dribbling past the Toronto defense into the final third to play a spot-on pass with his weak foot to set up Jones.
PEREA RESTORES OUR TWO GOAL LEAD ‼️ pic.twitter.com/QEnnPpNVdf
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) May 12, 2024
The fun did not end there. In the 78th minute, Wolf joined NYCFC on the counter, overlapping Agustín Ojeda to pick up the ball on the line and cut it back to gift Andrés Perea his first goal of the season, and what turned out to be the game-winner for New York City.
