{"id":126910,"date":"2026-03-01T19:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/126910\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T19:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:18:15","slug":"nycfc-looks-for-1st-win-of-2026-in-visit-to-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/126910\/","title":{"rendered":"NYCFC looks for 1st win of 2026 in visit to Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Seymour\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Feb 1, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; New York City FC forward Seymour Reid (99) looks on during the MLS preseason match between Austin FC at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Jefferson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Off the back of a 1-1 grind against the Los Angeles Galaxy in California, New York City FC (NYCFC) faces another roadtrip test against Eastern Conference rival the Philadelphia Union on Sunday at 4:30 P.M. ET.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fully aware of the fact that we only scored one goal [against the Galaxy] where we should have scored more,\u201d head coach Pascal Jansen told the media ahead of their matchup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All the off-the-pitch focus remains on NYCFC finding a solution to the Alonso Mart\u00ednez-shaped hole up front for the Boys in Blue. Nicol\u00e1s Fern\u00e1ndez Mercau, who dispatched the penalty to equalize against the Galaxy, has deputized upfront as a false nine, linking the wingers and attacking midfielders together in the final third.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His two chances created and one shot on target may not be pretty reading, but Kevin Egan<\/a>, lead studio host for the MLS on Apple TV, believes \u201cit\u2019s an adjustment for him\u201d to lead the line as opposed to his natural wide-player tendencies to drift out to the byline to receive the ball and attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is his first offseason, first time getting a break with his new team, I give him every benefit of the doubt right now,\u201d Egan told amNY. \u201cI do think they need another striker, someone to back him up\u2026a bigger name than maybe a young academy kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seventeen-year-old Seymour Reid is the only fit, out-and-out striker on NYCFC\u2019s senior roster at the moment. Whilst the Jamaican scored in a pre-season friendly against Sporting Kansas City and featured from time to time last season, he could not get on the pitch when the Pigeons were trying to find the go-ahead goal in Carson.<\/p>\n

Instead, Jansen opted for the returning Keaton Parks and 23-year-old winger Talles Magno, who came on in the 88th minute for Hannes Wolf on the left flank. Yet, \u201cconsistency has been a real big problem for [Magno] now \u2014 maybe even his positioning too \u2014 because he\u2019s played all across the front line in different roles for New York City over the years,\u201d Egan said.<\/p>\n

Magno didn\u2019t have enough time to make an impact, but still needs time to integrate back into the squad, according to Jansen.
\u201cIf there\u2019s any coach that can get the best out of him and have a calming influence on Magno, it is Pascal Jansen,\u201d Egan said.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia played against Defence Force F.C. in the CONCACAF Champions Cup first round on Thursday night in a 7-0 win, 12-0 on aggregate. It\u2019s left the defending Supporters\u2019 Shield champions with less than half the amount of time to prepare for this MLS matchup, but they will be looking for revenge.<\/p>\n

The last time these two sides faced each other was last season\u2019s Conference semifinal<\/a>, where the evergreen Maxi Moralez scored in the first half to separate the two sides. The Union has lost two core members in center back Jack Glesnes and striker Tai Baribo since, but still remains a formidable prospect for the Boys in Blue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the way [the Union] play \u2014 it\u2019s high octane, it\u2019s in your face,\u201d Egan said. \u201cNew York City are going to have to manage all of that, especially being on the road\u2026it\u2019s a difficult place to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Union will also be without new signing Ezekiel Alladoh for this match \u2014 the 20-year-old was sent off in his MLS debut against D.C. United last week.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Galaxy is a completely different team compared to Philly \u2014 in the way they play, the way they approach their game, and the individual qualities,\u201d Jansen said. \u201cBut the focus for us is always on our own team and taking into account the differences that we are going to have to deal with playing against a new opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on NYCFC, visit AMNY.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb 1, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; New York City FC forward Seymour Reid (99) looks on during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11616,59197,69,71,70,11868,726],"class_list":["post-126910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-mls","tag-nycfc","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}