New York City FC overcame an early self-inflicted deficit at Yankee Stadium, coming back to beat New England Revolution 2-1 to make it a perfect two wins from two home games played so far in 2025.
43,507 came to Yankee Stadium to watch this exact same fixture 10 years ago on this date, NYCFC's first-ever home game. Not that kind of crowd assembled for the second New York City home game of 2025 played on a damp, breezy night early in the regular season, but it was another revealing performance for those who watched Pascal Jansen's squad take on a New England squad that entered the game winless, goalless, and stuck near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
A lot went on in this game: Injuries, own goals, formation rearrangements, and more. Here, then, are four initial reactions to NYCFC's win over New England.
Quiet, until they weren't
This wasn't a game that featured crisp, free-flowing attacking soccer from NYCFC. The attack was relatively quiet in total, the team credited with a little over 1.4 expected goals, four shots on target, and two big chances. The key for NYCFC was converting the two big chances they got. Alonso Martínez was a good example of this, a player held quiet for much of the night – until he pulled off the acrobatics to score the match-winning goal when his best look emerged in the 68th minute. That opportunity arrived after a great low strike by Keaton Parks that looked destined for goal. Ivacic made a save but it wasn't enough to stop El Clínico living up to his nickname, scissor-kicking the rebound into New England's net to give NYCFC the one-goal lead they'd never relinquish.
They got the goals when they needed them – from both Martínez to win it, and from Julián Fernández to erase New England's early lead.
Hudson River Blue Staff
Julián breaking out?
We spent a lot of the preseason wondering how much more production New York City could get out of its duo of expensive young Argentine wingers, Agustín Ojeda and Julián Fernández. Ojeda threw away a great chance a week ago vs. Orlando by showing up late to the stadium and losing his spot in the Starting XI.
Fernández, meanwhile, has now produced back-to-back strong games while starting on the right of Pascal Jansen's attack. He followed up his assist to Hannes Wolf to win the match vs. Orlando with a first goal this season to draw level with New England after they went ahead on a brutal Thiago Martins own goal. NYCFC executed a perfect counterattack led by the duo of Hannes Wolf and Fernández, with Wolf driving the team upfield with a numerical advantage before sliding a precise pass to Julián. That Fernández finished the chance with his right, not preferred left foot, is worthy of a shoutout, but so too was his poise and precision in guiding his shot toward the far post and past the outstretched arms of New England goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic.
COOL, CALM, AND COLLECTED FROM JULÍ 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/FxK9DIaSDn
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) March 16, 2025
He's still only 21 years old and he's shown flashes of his potential in fleeting moments during his time in New York City, be it wicked shots taken from distance or trivela assists. Speaking of trivela assists and Julián, is Fernández an honorary Irishman? He dropped a ridiculous dime to Kevin O'Toole last season to win NYCFC's "St. Patrick's Day Match," played on March 16, 2024 vs. Toronto FC. Two days out from the feast of St. Patrick in 2025 and Fernández again tapped into the luck of the Irish...er, Argentines?, to open his scoring account. Get Julián a green beer postgame, he earned it (if he's into that sort of thing – drink responsibly, kids).
Getting thin at the back
Nico Cavallo had the makings of a storybook game going in his first MLS start, which in and of itself is an accomplishment for the former Long Island Rough Rider and UCLA Bruin. He was the 88th of 90 total players picked in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft, New York City's fifth and final pick. You wouldn't have expected him to be starting in MLS by Matchday 4, but you might also not have expected 17-year-old Jonathan Shore to be starting and earning Player of the Match honors so early in this season, yet here we are.
The Starting XI debut didn't last long for Cavallo, forced out of the match with an injury in the 29th minute, which severely tested what's already a thin defensive unit. Tayvon Gray is out indefinitely with a leg injury, Kevin O'Toole was suspended, and without Cavallo, the only other available fullback on the bench was 17-year-old Homegrown Drew Baiera. Jansen had to get creative with his defensive shape, which involved subbing on Birk Risa first when Cavallo went down, then Strahinja Tanasijević in the second half when Shore picked up a yellow card.
It was a funky and fluid situation at the back but it needed to work, and thankfully for NYCFC, it did.
The Thiago Martins Experience
The club's captain had a tough start to the 2025 season, and it's not just because he scored a howler of an own goal to give New England a lead in this game. Thiago picked up an injury early during preseason training that kept him out of action for every preparatory friendly the team played. He made his debut as a late sub on Matchday 2 vs LAFC, started and went 90 minutes in the win over Orlando, and kept his place in Jansen's lineup for the New England game, still paired with Justin Haak.
When asked about his injury-delayed start to the season after the win over Orlando, Thiago told me postmatch that it was "Not easy to get injured, my first time injured in preseason. Disappointing especially with a new coach, a new style of play. It was hard, I felt a little bit frustrated, but I worked hard every single day to come back as soon as possible to help the team."
Thiago's presence so far in 2025 has mainly helped, especially while playing next to Justin Haak, though the own goal was not a new occurrence. The 29-year-old Brazilian Designated Player has had a penchant for the occasional self-inflicted wound at the back, but it's something NYCFC and its fans have lived with since his 2022 arrival.
His mistakes are ugly when they happen, but he rebounded in this game and was a big reason why the NYCFC defense continued to keep New England quiet despite losing its starting left-back and needing to sub on two defenders to see out the game. Thiago's recovery runs are always sights to behold when he makes them, because it's easy to forget that the big defender is quite fast for a center-back. The own goal seemed to kick his motivation up a notch on the night, and it had to be a point of pride that NYCFC never conceded again after his OG.
The backline looked shaky in the games against Miami and LAFC but less so since Thiago Martins returned to full health and got back to 90-minute match fitness – and hey, he's a NYCFC Designated Player who scored a goal in 2025, even if it was for the other team, which no one else can say.
