The New York City Football Club were outshot 25-4 (and 5-0 on goal), had 0 corner kicks to Columbus’s 10 and was without starting Striker Alonso Martinez due to international duty but despite that came away with a huge single point on the road against Wilifred Nancy’s Columbus Crew.
NYCFC, who came into this match on a 2 game win streak faced a Columbus team that despite having lost phenom Cucho Hernandez (and I team I predicted would land in 6th this year) and put Goalkeeper Matt Freese to the test, as NYCFC managed only 24% possession of the ball during the match.
Columbus did score in the 84th minute after Jacen Russell-Rowe scored from close range, however in VAR review the goal was disallowed after it was determined that DeJuan Jones was offside in the review. (You might remember Jones as the player who scored just 20 seconds into his Columbus career last year during the Leagues Cup)
Next up for NYCFC is a reunion with former team head coach Ronny Delia and Atlanta United. Delia is best remember in NYCFC lore for being head coach during the 2021 MLS Cup run, and his half naked pushups in the Portland rain after winning the MLS Cup:
4 STATS
1) Clean Living: Despite the challenge, Matt Freese picked up his first clean sheet of the season. This was the team’s first regular season clean sheet since July 13, also a 0-0 draw (against the Chicago Fire)
2) New Beginnings: Homegrown Maximo Carrizo and new addition Seymour Reid made their NYCFC debut coming on in the 73rd minute. Carrizo, is the second homegrown to make his debut this season for the club after Jonny Shore made his in the first match of the season.
3) Stingy Point: This was just the second point NYCFC has gotten on the road in Columbus since the 2020 season.
4) Moving Forward: NYCFC has picked up 7 points in the past 3 matches and are currently on a 3 match unbeaten streak. After 5 matches they are at 8 points on the season (and 8th place in the East). After 5 matches last year the team was at just 3 points.