Liam Fitzpatrick from Hudson River Blue Read More
New York City FC player ratings are determined by you, the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are the NYCFC player ratings from the season-worst 4-0 home loss to Inter Miami on Wednesday, when Lionel Messi did Messi things.
New York City FC suffered their season-worst loss when they fell 4-0 to Inter Miami at Citi Field on Wednesday night, and your numbers reflect the poor performance.
Despite looking good early on, New York City slowly lost their footing in the match, with the quality of Lionel Messi and Inter Miami becoming too much for the hosts. A wonderful ball from Messi into Baltasar Rodriguez opened the scoring in the 43rd minute, with the visitors going into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead.
It remained close until the final 20 minutes of regulation time, when the floodgates opened. First, New York City head coach Pascal Jansen took off center-back Thiago Martins in the 73rd minute, replacing him with midfielder Aiden O’Neill and bringing on Jonny Shore. Messi scored his first goal one minute later, Luis Suarez converted a penalty nine minutes after that, then Messi scored again three minutes later.
That’s three goals in 13 minutes after Thiago Martins left the field. Maybe that’s why you handed Jansen a season-low 2.8 rating, beating out the 2.9 you gave him after the 2-1 home loss to DC United on August 30. It’s not just the worst rating earned by Jansen, it’s the lowest number for any player or referee all season.
The Starting XI earned mostly 5s. Captain Thiago Martins and goalkeeper Matt Freese were the recipients of the highest ratings, with both earning a 6.1, and Nico Fernández Mercau earned his first Player of the Match on an otherwise forgettable night.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Nico Fernández Mercau (7.5) – 5.9
Hannes Wolf, off 61′ (5.9) – 4.6
Aufustín Ojeda, off 73′ (6.3) – 5.8
Maxi Moralez (6.2) – 5.3
Andrés Perea (5.4) – 5.2
Aiden O’Neill (6.1) – 5.0
Kevin O’Toole (6.3) – 5.3
Tayvon Gray (6.2) – 5.9
Justin Haak (5.0) – 4.7
Thiago Martins, off 73′ (6.3) – 6.1
Matt Freese (6.1) – 6.1
Alonso Martínez, on 61′ (6.4) – 5.1
Jonny Shore, on 73′ (6.4) – 4.9
Julián Fernández, on 73′ (6.1) – 4.9
Player Spotlight
Thiago Martins
It is not often that a center back is chosen for a Player Spotlight when the final score is a 4-0 loss. While this obviously was not his best performance, Thiago Martins was solid defensively, and when he left the game, the score was still 1-0.
The Brazilian defender made four defensive contributions, with two clearances and one interception. Thiago Martins even came close to scoring, when he did well to spin away from his defender on a set-piece. But it just clearly was not NYCFC’s night in front of goal.
There were some question marks about his positioning on the opening goal, with Thiago Martins stepping to the ball to leave a gap in behind. But it’s hard to fault the lad when the player coming at you is Messi.
However, much of Inter Miami’s play came through down the left flank, where Tayvon Gray and Thiago Martins had to deal with the always dangerous Jordi Alba. Thiago Martins showed his quality when he anticipated a pass from Messi meant for Alba, intercepting it to break up the attack.
The game changed when the defender was taken out in the 73rd minute. Miami scored three goals in 13 minutes, dominating a New York City that couldn’t keep composed. The last time the veteran didn’t play the full 90 minutes when in the Starting XI came way back in March 2024 — there’s a reason why you stick with Thiago Martins until the final whistle.
Pascal Jansen – 2.8
This is the manager’s lowest rating to date. Jansen was faced with a big decision tonight as his main goal threat, Alonso Martínez, was sidelined due to injury. Jansen elected to go with a front line of Nico, Agustín Ojeda, and Hannes Wolf, and while they proved to be a threat at times, they lacked quality in front of goal.
Not that Janesn had many options. Could he have gone with youth and started 17-year-old striker Seymour Reid, and play Nico in a more preferred position out wide?
But it’s the decision to take out Thiago Martins in the 73rd minute and not replace hm with another center-back that remains the biggest question mark on the night. And it looks to be the reason why he was handed the lowest rating of the season across all categories.
Filip Dujic – 3.3
Player of the Match
Nico Fernández Mercau
Nico is Player of the Match for the first time in his NYCFC career, receiving just under 30% of the vote in a contest between eight players. Nobody really deserves POTM after a dreadful match like this, but the honor belongs to Nico.
With talisman Alonso Martínez forced to the bench with a muscle injury, Nico was lined up as the No 9 and entered the match with a goal and an assist in his first eight matches with the club across all competitions.
On a night where the Pigeons lacked attacking prowess, Nico posed the biggest threat right from the off. Just five minutes in, the Argentinian forward took on an ambitious attempt from around 20 yards out that looked promising, only for the effort to fly just wide of the post.
New York City’s early pressure continued with a corner kick in the 21st minute that saw Nico deliver a quality set piece ball to the back post, finding Thiago Martins in acres of space. Martins did well to get great power on the header, only to find his shot directed right at Inter Miami’s Oscar Ustari in goal.
The pivotal moment for NYCFC came in the 29th minute. In just the span of a few seconds, the Blues executed a slick box-to-box counter attack with a wonderful ball from Hannes Wolf through to Nico, who beat one defender to the ball, beat a second with pace, then kept his composure to create space to get a shot away from 12 yards out…and then hit the outside of the woodwork. It was arguably New York’s biggest chance of the game and was just inches from giving the home side the lead.