NYCFC Earns A Draw With Messi & Miami

NYCFC celebrates one of their goals. Provided by the team.

NYCFC opened the MLS season against the star-studded Inter Miami FC on the road, and they earned a 2-2 draw on Saturday night.

It didn't take Miami long at all to get on the board, Lionel Messi found an opening to set Tomás Avilés, who scored in the fifth minute with a left footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner. Jordi Alba also earned an assist on the goal.

In the 23rd minute, something unexpected happened, as Avilés took a red card on a Professional Foul, Last Man, as he took down an NYCFC player heading for the net. 

That meant that NYCFC would be playing the rest of the match with a man advantage, which they made the most of rather quickly.

Mitja Ilenič buried one from the center of the box, off a feed from Maxi Moralez in the 26th minute to tie the game.

It stayed that way through he rest of a contentious first half, and NYCFC broke through in the 55th minute when Alonso Martínez shot one from the center of the box to the upper left central zone to put NYCFC up 2-1.

It would remain that way through the very end, nearly all the way through the 11 minutes of extra time.

That was just enough time for Messi to find his way through a tired NYCFC defense and slip one through to Telasco Segovia to tie the game at 2 in the 100th minute.

That would be the final, as Pascal Jensen earned a point in his first game at the helm of NYCFC. 

This was the first time NYCFC scored in an opening match since 2021 at D.C. United. All 11 NYCFC opening games have been on the road, as they start at Yankee Stadium a bit into the campaign.

Maxi Moralez's assist made him the all-time leader in that category against Miami, with four. He also wore the captain's armband in this one, something he previously did from 2017 until he left the club at the end of the 2022 season. 

NYCFC is now 6-1-4 against Inter Miami, the David Beckham-owned club that debuted in 2020.

COACH'S COMMENTS: NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jensen addressed the media after the game:

Thoughts on today’s performance and result: “We were just a little too short—that sums it all up. Just a little too short. But on the other hand, an away game against [Inter] Miami is always a challenge, and I think my boys took on the challenge with brave hearts and were very courageous. I think we controlled some parts of the game the way we wanted to, especially out of possession, even though they went down to 10 men. But then again, it's always very, very sad to concede a late equalizer.” 

Thoughts on the performances of Jonny Shore and Nico Cavallo and the substitutes: “Overall, though, I'm very satisfied with the substitutes. Pepe [Andres Perea] is coming back from a long-term injury, Jonny Shore—one of our youngsters—performed really well in preseason and earned his playing time, and Nico [Nicholas Cavallo] has been tremendous in preseason as well, making him a strong stand-in for Kevin [O’Toole]. They showed that today. It was also a great challenge for them to experience how top players manage a game like this, and that's something they can take into the next match."