BRONX, NY — NYCFC made it two home wins on the bounce with an unconvincing come-from-behind 2-1 victory over New England Revolution at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night.
A well-taken Julian Fernandez effort shortly before the break and an emphatic acrobatic volley from Alonso Martinez midway through the second half helped NYCFC recover from an early Thiago Martins own goal.
Pascal Jansen’s side often looked sluggish against a New England side that had failed to score in any of its opening three games, taking just one point.
However, the hosts eventually stamped their authority on what was mostly a low-quality encounter and did just about enough to seal consecutive 2-1 victories at Yankee Stadium after beating Orlando City SC by the scoreline last week.
Jansen’s side has now moved up to sixth in the Eastern Conference after taking seven points from their first four games of the 2025 MLS season. However, the Dutch coach said he “wasn’t quite satisfied” with his side’s performance on Saturday night, stating that there is “a lot of work to be done” ahead of back-to-back away trips to Columbus and Atlanta.
“I thought we were too sloppy, losing possession, too fast,” Jansen said on Saturday night. “Then it becomes a game that goes up and down, and they try to get us in wide areas with crosses and stuff like that. So controlling the ball is what we’re looking for. And that was a little off today.”
NYCFC went close to taking the lead after just nine minutes when Keaton Parks rose highest to flick on a Maxi Moralez corner, but Aljaz Ivacic reacted well to keep out the goalbound header. Martinez was inches away from converting the rebound as New England just about cleared their lines.
That was to be the last clear-cut opportunity for quite some time as both sides struggled to create in a forgettable opening quarter.
It was perhaps fitting, therefore, that the opening goal of the encounter came via a mistake rather than a moment of quality, with NYCFC captain Thiago Martins slicing horribly into his own net when attempting to clear a relatively innocuous cross from New England right back Brandon Bye on 26 minutes. The goal was New England’s first of the MLS season after drawing three blanks in their opening three games.
As if to compound NYCFC’s misery, the host’s also lost full debutant Nico Cavallo to injury after the full back pulled up as New England celebrated their unlikely lead.
The home side was only behind for 12 minutes, however, when Hannes Wolf expertly controlled a long clearance and raced away on the counter. The Austrian winger slipped a perfect pass to Fernandez who fired a first-time shot across Ivacic and into the bottom corner from about 15 yards.
New England almost retook the lead immediately when captain Carles Gil twisted and turned his way through the NYCFC defense, teeing up winger Ignatius Gagano, who saw his powerful close-range effort well saved by Matt Freese.
The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, with both sides struggling to create any chances of note.
Ganago came closest for the visitors when he fizzed a powerful effort over the crossbar from the edge of the area just past the hour mark.
Martinez almost put NYCFC in front on 66 minutes when he latched onto a Moralez pass and shrugged off the attention of Brayan Ceballos before selling Bye a glorious dummy to carve out a golden opportunity from just six yards out. Having done the hard part, however, Martinez blazed wide with the goal at his mercy.
He made amends just two minutes later, acrobatically volleying home from close range after Keaton Parks saw a fierce drive well saved by Ivacic.
NYCFC finally clicked into gear after taking the lead and almost doubled their lead on 71 minutes when Moralez played a glorious give-and-go with Martinez and poked narrowly wide from the edge of the area.
The hosts rarely looked troubled in the dying stages as New England struggled to create any chances of notes, with NYCFC closing out victory with relative comfort.
