NYCFC Rolls By Rapids At Stadium

 

Nicolas Fernandez Mercau (center) and Agustin Ojeda embrace after one of his goals. Provided by NYCFC.

New York City Football Club won their second straight game at Yankee Stadium, as they cruised by the Colorado Rapids, 3-1, on Saturday night.

NYCFC is now 3-0-1, with 10 points, on the season, matching their best start through four games in franchise history, in 2018. They remain one of six unbeaten teams in the MLS.

In these two games at Yankee Stadium, NYCFC has notched eight goals, as they beat Orlando City, 5-0, a week ago Saturday. The last time NYCFC scored eight combined goals in two matches was late in the 2024 season, when they won 5-1 at the Red Bulls on September 28, 2004, followed by a 3-2 victory against Cincinnati FC.

This was NYCFC's first win against Colorado since they won on the road, 2-1, on July 20, 2019. Colorado won their last meeting, nearly two years ago, 2-0, on May 5, 2024, a brutally cold day at Citi Field.

Nicolas Fernandez Mercau had a pair of goals - in the 22nd and 45th minutes to give NYCFC a quick 2-0 lead.

Colorado stunned them going into the break, as Darren Yapi scored in the 49th minutes (fourth of extra time) as the first half wound down.

Talles Magno, on a set up by Maxi Moralez put the game away, making it 3-1 NYCFC in the 86th minute. Magno had entered as a substitute in the 63rd minute.

This was Fernandez Mercau's first-ever brace, the term for scoring two goals, in the MLS Regular Season. He now has four goals on the season, the second player to reach that mark four games in, after Valentin Castellanos did it in 2021.

Fernandez Mercau also scored in the 1-1 draw against LA Galaxy on February 22, and notched one last week against Orlando City in a 5-0 win.

NYCFC is now 7-1-1 when he has a goal contribution, and a 13-5-2 record when he makes an appearance.

Magno's goal was his first on the season, and he now has two goal contributions, as he also had an assist in Philadelphia on March 1. His last goal came in Atlanta on July 17, 2024.

COACH'S COMMENTS: NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen spoke on these topics in his postgame press conference:

On Forward Talles Magno's goal and insight into the conversation he had with him: "It's a great moment for Talles. He has to be patient because we're making him more robust and capable of playing 90 minutes again. It's been a while for him, so the training load and training program have been designed to help him progress. Unfortunately, he had a major setback during preseason with a calf injury, so he was out for two weeks. For him to score this important goal in a match like today is huge for him, and also for the team, instruction-wise, he came on because we needed somebody we could set up with more than we did in the first part of the second half. He has the quality to play with his back to goal and help us get away from pressure, because Colorado were pressing hard and high. Once you go through that pressure or go over it, you need somebody who can hold the ball so you can come and support and play from that moment onward. He did that with great intent, helped the team in those moments, and even more with the moment when we broke through their press and scored the third goal. I'm very pleased for him."

On the tactical changes made to get the win: "Credit to Colorado as well. Like I mentioned at the beginning of the press conference, they're a very tough team and that's something we anticipated. The first half was, I would say, partially the foundation of the win today. But we made it a little more difficult for ourselves by conceding just before halftime, because then you know you're going to have a tougher second half than it should be. But like I explained earlier, having Talles come on with his quality, and also having the creative minds still on the pitch with Nico (Fernandez Mercau) and Maxi (Moralez) made a difference. If you see the run-up to the goal, how we played and how Maxi set it up for Talles, that shows the quality we have within our team. We always try to be very dominant in our way of playing, but sometimes you have to adapt, and we adapted quite well today to score that third goal and secure the win."