NYCFC Loves It At Citi As They Crush Cincinnati In Playoff Rematch

 

NYCFC celebrates Julian Fernandez's early goal. Photo by Jason Schott.

That's two games at Citi Field and two shutouts for New Yoirk City Football Club, as they won their playoff rematch with Cincinnati CF, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon in front of 21,611 fans.

NYCFC came back from a 1-0 deficit to win their three-game first round playoff series last fall, and they picked up where they left off.

In the ninth minute, NYCFC was operating in Cincinanati territory, and after a bad clearance attempt, Maxi Moralez sent a pass across the top of the box. 

It deflected off a Cincinnati defender, and rolling toward the center, where Julian Fernandez was ready to tee it up and fire a strike to make it 1-0 NYCFC.

It was Fernandez's second goal of the season, and he already has matched his career high, set the past two seasons. This was his third career goal at Citi Field, and first against Cincinnati.

Just a few minutes later, Cincinnati defender Matt Miazga (formerly of the Red Bulls and Chelsea) took down Alonso Martinez by grabbing his left shoulder in the box.

Miazga received a yellow card, and Martinez was awarded a penalty kick, but he fired it off the right post, keeping it a 1-0 game.

NYCFC had another big chance in the 18th minute as Moralez pounced on a loose ball out wide in the box, and found Andres Perea, who fired a shot from the center of the box that missed to the right.

Martinez had a few big chances the rest of the way in the first half, including in the 38th minute, when he fired one from the center of the box that was saved by Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano.

A minute after that, Cincinnati went on the attack, and NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese went out to his left to try to grab a ball, which he did, but he was outside the box, which resulted in a yellow card.

Cincinnati followed with a quality attempt from Luca Orellano, who fired one from outside the box that was high and wide to the left of the net.

In the second half, NYCFC's first big chance came in the 68th minute, when Fernandez had a pair of chances outside the box that he missed both the right and left corners of the net.

Cincinnati had a big chance in the 79th minute when Gerardo Valenzuela fired a shot from the right side of the box that Freese saved at the bottom right corner of the net.

Since Freese deflected it out of play, Cincinnati received a penalty kick, which left to Miles Robinson firing one from the center of the box, but NYCFC cleared it promptly.

Cincinnati taking the corner kick. Photos by Jason Schott.

NYCFC marching up field after it cleared away the resulting shot. 

Cincinnati had another chance in the 84th when Evander fired a shot that was blocked, which led to another corner kick, which was also turned aside.

The final eight minutes, since there were only two minutes of extra time, were uneventful, as NYCFC's stifling defense wound down the clock.

This was the fourth clean sheet of the season for Freese, including the second in a row and third in four matches. He made four saves to earn his first against Cincinnati. It was his sixth shutout at Citi Field, not bad considering he has now played 10 matches there.

NYCFC improved to 5-2-4 on the season, with 17 points, and they have now moved up to seventh place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings. They have the same points as Nashville, who also is 5-2-4, but are listed in sixth, and Orlando City, who is 4-5-2 on the season.

This was NYCFC's 20th game played at Citi Field, and their record is now 11-3-6. They have scored 30 goals, yielded just 21, and recorded eight clean sheets.

It was NYCFC's first clean sheet against Cincinnati since April 24, 2021, when they won 5-0 at Yankee Stadium. 

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

On forward Julian Fernandez's performance and development: "Julian Fernandez is a guy who has had to deal with several situations since I arrived. He had a very good preseason and a good start to the MLS season, but he's only 21, so you know it'll go up and down. We're trying to build more consistency into the team - including Juli. As with all creative attacking players, they need to have that good feel. Today he showed his quality on and off the ball. His decisions were good. I just saw the goal again - it's high-quality, very high-quality - spins it off the goalkeeper. He's been training like a maniac. You guys remember when I took him off before halftime (vs. Minnesota)? That's a tough blow. I was curious to see how he'd show up to the next training. He just got back to work - worked even harder than before. That says a lot about his character and personality. I'm very grateful to help him develop, and what he showed tonight is a very, very important step in the right direction."

On stopping FC Cincinnati's attack: "I think we had a very stable, aggressive, energized performance out of possession - regained possession a few times already in their half in the first half. The guys did a really good job. Knowing that you play against quality players up front from the opponent always brings more focus on what to expect. But other than that, I saw my players prepare themselves like any other game, and they made it quite difficult for those guys to be in their best positions to create something toward our goal, which is a huge compliment to the whole team, but also to the individuals who had to take care of it."