New York City FC take on FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30PM ET.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are the Keys to the Match, presented by Ford.<\/p>\n
\n On The Road<\/p>\n
Traveling hasn\u2019t always been easy for New York City FC, but lately things have improved.<\/p>\n
Their first road game back after the World Cup break saw them upset the Columbus Crew in Ohio. Goals from Nico Fern\u00e1ndez Mercau and Agust\u00edn Ojeda gave New York City a valuable 2-1 win.<\/p>\n
That result was the team\u2019s second road win in its last three away games in MLS. Picking up points on your travels is vital if you\u2019re to succeed in the MLS regular season, and those experiences can prove invaluable when the playoffs roll around.<\/p>\n
Besting FC Cincinnati in their own backyard will be no easy feat, however. In nine home outings this season, Pat Noonan\u2019s side have won six, drawn one and lost two. Inter Miami CF and Lionel Messi were the last team to hand Cincinnati a home defeat, back in May.<\/p>\n
Since then, Cincinnati have enjoyed three straight wins at home, meaning New York City FC will need to be at their best if they\u2019re to leave Ohio with three points for the second time this season.<\/p>\n
\n Goals Galore<\/p>\n
It certainly hasn\u2019t been boring for FC Cincinnati fans recently.<\/p>\n
Their last four home games have produced an incredible 29 goals. It started with a 5-3 defeat to Inter Miami before Cincinnati responded with a 6-2 win against Orlando City and a 4-3 victory against Vancouver Whitecaps. Most recently, they recorded a 4-2 win against the San Jose Earthquakes.<\/p>\n
It should come as no surprise that Cincinnati are tied with Inter Miami for the most goals scored in MLS this season. Attacking duo Evander and Kevin Denkey have both managed 11 league goals, while 12 different Cincinnati players have found the scoresheet in MLS.<\/p>\n
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cincinnati have also conceded the second-most goals in MLS this season. Given the wealth of attacking talent on show for both teams, another goal fest could be in store Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
\n Dueling Playmakers<\/p>\n
One of the key tactical battles Wednesday night could center around Nico Fern\u00e1ndez Mercau and Evander.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez Mercau is enjoying a brilliant season with New York City FC. The team\u2019s leading scorer, he sits second in the league\u2019s scoring charts with 13 goals. A key component of New York City\u2019s attacking play, Fern\u00e1ndez Mercau has also earned praise from Pascal Jansen for the mentality he brings to the field and the way it drives the team forward.<\/p>\n
For Evander, 11 goals and 11 assists underline why Cincinnati were so keen to bring him to the club. The 28-year-old was signed from the Portland Timbers last year and has shown an uncanny knack for scoring memorable goals.<\/p>\n
The two players operate in different systems. Noonan utilizes a back three with occasional tweaks to his forward line, switching between a lone striker supported by two attacking midfielders and two strikers operating ahead of a midfield three.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the shape, Evander is tasked with stitching Cincinnati\u2019s attacking play together, either finishing moves himself or providing the creative supply line for the forwards.<\/p>\n
One way New York City could potentially limit his influence is by ensuring Fern\u00e1ndez Mercau sees plenty of the ball. Attack being the best form of defense is by no means a new concept, but forcing Cincinnati to account for Fern\u00e1ndez Mercau\u2019s threat could go a long way toward tilting the contest in New York City FC\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City FC take on FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30PM ET.\u00a0 Here…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11358,9,11,10,12],"class_list":["post-324411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-major-keys","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}