It's matchday, and it's a must-win for New York City FC at Citi Field as they take on FC Cincinnati in Game 2 of the best-of-three Round One of the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs. If NYCFC come out on top, the series returns to TQL Stadium next week for the decider. If Cincinnati win, then they will advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
• Round One, Game 2: New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati
• Date and Time: Saturday, November 2, 5 pm ET
• Venue: Citi Field
• Forecast: Crisp, comfortable, 59F/15C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (free), FS1
• Apple Broadcast Team: Chris Wittyngham and Lori Lindsey (English), Oscar Salazar and Jaime Macias (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Ismir Pekmic (referee), Jeffrey Greeson and Jeffrey Swartzel (assistant referees), Marcos DeOliveira (fourth official), Carlos Anne Chenard (VAR), Joshua Patlak (assistant VAR)
• Kits: In a repeat of Game 1, New York City will wear the sky-blue Interboro Kit, while Cincinnati will wear the dark-blue River Kit
New York City put up one of their worst offensive performances of the year in Monday's 1-0 loss to Cincinnati, and yet they can feel hard done by the result. They limited Cincy to just one goal despite putting up a 3.9 xG thanks to the goalkeeping heroics of Matt Freese.
The game ended on a sour note when Tayvon Gray was shown a straight red card for a challenge to Luciano Acosta. To add insult to injury, Gray was later fined for failing to leave the field in a timely manner.
This will be New York City's 18th playoff game in club history, the eighth played at home, and just the third at Citi Field.
Those two previous games in Queens couldn't be more different. NYCFC held a soccer masterclass here on October 17, 2022, when they defeated Inter Miami 3-0 on a cool night in front of 18,066 fans. And they imploded against Toronto FC on October 23, 2019, when they gave up a game-winning penalty in stoppage time.
A new chapter in this saga will be written tonight.
Hudson River Blue Staff
New York City vs Cincinnati H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 33 | 25 | 8 |
New York City still have an edge over Cincinnati in the head-to-head despite Monday's loss. But the matchup tilts dramatically in Cincinnati's favor when you take league play out of the equation, and only look at tournament matchups. The two teams have met once in US Open Cup, once in Leagues Cup, and now once in MLS Cup Playoffs, and Cincinnati have won every one of those contests.
New York City vs Cincinnati Tournament H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -4 |
New York City were held scoreless in two of those games: The 1-0 loss in the US Open Cup last year, and the 1-0 loss on Monday. NYCFC scored twice against Cincinnati earlier this year in the Leagues Cup match, but they went on to give up four goals in 11 minutes in the worst defensive collapse in club history.
Note that all three of those games were played at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati: This will be the first time New York City hosts a tournament match between the two.
The last time NYCFC hosted Cincinnati at Citi Field was a midweek game on September 7, 2022. That match ended in a 1-1 draw, with New York City captain Thiago Martins experiencing the nightmare scenario of scoring an own goal and getting a straight red card.
New York City
• Player Availability: Malachi Jones remains out. Tayvon Gray is also out serving a suspension for his late red card in Game 1.
• Maxi Moralez is fit, and was in full training with the team. According to head Coach Nick Cushing the playmaker suffered a slight injury before Game 1, which is why he started the match on the bench.
• How will NYCFC jump-start the attack? They were limited to two timid shots on goal in Monday's matchup as Cincinnati's back three of Chidozie Awaziem, Teenage Hadebe, and Miles Robinson neutralized Alonso Martínez, Santiago Rodríguez, and Hannes Wolf.
• Freese's return to form is a welcome sight. The goalkeeper ended Monday night with six saves, an xGA of -2.9, and Player of the Match honors from FotMob and the readers here at Hudson River Blue.
• How many people will turn out for a 5 pm kickoff on a beautiful Saturday night in Queens? Sections of the 300 and 400 levels are open for this game. Remember, the team averaged 22,566 at Citi Field this season, with 30,731 in the stands for the May 18 win in the Hudson River Derby. The club's playoff attendance record was set on November 6, 2016, when 28,355 fans watched NYCFC play Toronto at Yankee Soccer Stadium.
• Keaton Parks wins Halloween.
KEATON AS BIG BIRD FOR HALLOWEEN LMFAO 🎃 🐤
— BLUE BALLS NYCFC (@BlueBallsPod) October 31, 2024
(does it count as a costume if you go as yourself?) pic.twitter.com/eBHqQI0YCG
Andrew Leigh
Cincinnati
• Player Availability: Goalkeeper Alec Kann (hip), central defender Nick Hagglund (leg), and central defender Matt Miazga (knee) are out.
• The Cincy back line was a question mark going into Monday's game. No more: The defense frustrated New York City all night, and goalkeeper Roman Celentano was never seriously challenged.
• Will Obinna Nwobodo be in the Starting XI? The 27-year-old is the key to Cincinnati's midfield, and he returned to full training yesterday after missing most of the week.
• Could the tight dimensions of Citi Field help decide the game? Cincinnati are a team that likes to play out wide, but the narrow pitch will limit them. Head Coach Pat Noonan did his best this week to prepare the players.
Pat Noonan says they’re unsure of exactly what to expect of the pitch at Citi Field but they have a sense of the dimensions and are training today with those in mind.
— Carter Chapley (@CarterChapley) October 31, 2024
We see now the training pitch has been coned off to be slightly more narrow on either side.#AllForCincy pic.twitter.com/h7SR3ziGol
• Still curious about FCC? Be sure to read "Oppo Research: 5 Things about FC Cincinnati."
Matthew Mangam
