NYCFC Notches Tie Against LAFC

 

Andres Perea celebrates after scoring his goal. Provided by NYCFC.

New York City Football Club earned a 1-1 draw with Los Angeles FC on Saturday night at Citi Field.

This was a necessary point for NYCFC in their push for the playoffs. They are now 8-10-12, with 34 points, 12th in the MLS Eastern Conference, three points behind the Red Bulls, Cincinnati, and Toronto, who are in eighth to tenth place. (The top nine teams make the postseason)

LAFC improved to 12-10-9, with 46 points, and they are in sixth place in the MLS Western Conference.

The first half was a tight affair, and this one nearly made it to halftime scoreless.

That was until Leo Walta scored in the first minute of extra time, burying a free kick in the 46th minute.

It didn't take all that long for NYCFC to tie it in the second half, as Andres Perea headed one home after a feed from Nicolas Fernandez Mercau.

The goal came on a set piece, the 13th time NYCFC has scored on one this season.

For Perea, it was his third goal of the season, and second on a header. It was his first career goal against LAFC.

Mercau notched his fourth assist of the season, to go along with the 15 goals he has scored. He now has 10 career MLS regular season assists.

NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen said of his team's recent goal scoring form, "We need wins, and in order to win, you need goals. Sometimes you have games where maybe one or two goals are enough to get the three points...So the urgency is really there to score goals because that's the biggest opportunity for us to win games, obviously. But looking at the longer stretch of games, even the games we played after the World Cup break, I think creating chances wasn't our main problem...But somehow, that's something that comes back to us all the time. So if you don't reward yourself enough in these games, it stays a very tight game, and every mistake you make in the final phase of the game has cost us dearly."

Midfielder Hannes Wolf played in his 100th MLS match for NYCFC, including regular season and playoffs. Forward Talles Magno made his 100th career MLS regular season appearance for the club. 

This was the fifth time NYCFC met LAFC all-time, and the first match they played at Citi Field. The only other meeting that occurred in New York was way back on March 17, 2019. Their last meeting overall was in Los Angeles on March 1, 2025, with LAFC winning, 1-0.