New York City FC (NYCFC) closes out its road trip this month against FC Dallas in Frisco, TX, this Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Head coach Pascal Jansen’s men continue to walk the thin tightrope that is the Eastern Conference wildcard positions, maintaining a two-point lead in eighth over the crosstown rivals New York Red Bulls, who have 33 points; both teams are due to face each other one more time this season.
The Boys in Blue are coming off a 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas City at the Children’s Mercy Park, where an Andrés Perea finish in the first half was cancelled out by Dániel Sallói’s rebound effort in the 74th minute. Sporting KC was the happier of the two sides with the shared point, as Jansen said the match “felt like a loss.”
Each road match has been played in the sweltering heat, and Jansen noted a drop in intensity in the second half when they conceded the goal.
“The second half against Kansas, we got ourselves into a situation where we were too passive,” said Jansen. “ I’m not sure if that is only weather-related or the fact that we had to play a few games in a short period of time, but that is something we need to avoid going forward into the fourth match.”
The club announced on Thursday that Captain Thiago Martins will miss his team’s trip south. The defender underwent knee surgery this morning and is ruled out for four to six weeks.
Midfielders Keaton Parks and Malachi Jones remain on the injury list, while Hannes Wolf should return after missing the SKC match.
With the MLS’s secondary transfer window open today, coupled with Martin’s medium-term injury, Jansen teased that “there are several candidates in our sights who might be interesting to bring to New York” in his pre-match press conference. However, the Dutchman remained tight-lipped on names and highlighted that other players such as fullback Kevin O’Toole or midfielder Aidan O’Neill can fill in at the heart of defence.
Martins’ partner this season, Justin Haak, has made the left-center back spot his own this season. His background in defensive midfield provides Jansen with an extra man in defence who can bring the ball into midfield and build out play from the back.
“If we were to go back a few years and tell me that I’m left center back, playing there every game, I don’t know if I would have believed it,” said Haak. “It’s going to be a chance for me to step up and help the defence out a lot more until Thiago can come back. We don’t know who’s going to be playing there yet, maybe stay back a little bit more, defend a little bit more and not go as far as much as I have in certain games.”
On the other side of the transfer business, new signing Nicolás Fernández Mercau might be eligible to play in tomorrow’s match, as his work visa is still pending approval.
While the Pigeons picked up their eleventh out of a possible 36 points on the road on Saturday, Dallas have only won two matches and tied a further two at home this season in 11 matches. That record is the second-worst home record in the league this season, although the Toros won 3-0 comfortably at home against St. Louis last time out, snapping a five-game winless run.
Petar Musa has been Dallas’s standout attacker this season, contributing to 16 goals, including a brace and an assist in the rout on Saturday. City also faces a familiar opponent in Luciano Acosta, who missed the last two matches.
“Acosta, I think we know very well — we’ve played [FC Cincinnati] in the playoffs last year,” said Haak. “I feel like we played Cincinnati so many times in the past few years, so we’re very familiar with his game. On Musa, we did our video session on them, and we’ll do more later today, but first we figure out who we’re going to have in the back-line, and go from there.”
