3 things we learned from NYCFC’s season opener draw against Inter Miami CF | OneFootball

On Saturday, New York City FC kicked off the 2025 Major League Soccer season in Fort Lauderdale and took on Inter Miami CF.  Nobody thought this would be an easy match, especially with the departures of two major stars, Santiago Rodríguez and James Sands, who left on loan.  While most starters returned from last season, the two midfielders will certainly be missed in 2025.

Nevertheless, the team had to continue on, and Pascal Jansen put out a mostly strong Starting XI with the available players.  Most would probably question the backline, for Thiago Martins was unavailable due to being injured for most of the preseason.  Could Strahinja Tanasijević step up in the Brazilian’s absence and could the backline keep Lionel Messi out of the goal?

Well, Messi did not score, and Tanasijević did not truly step up, hence his substitution at halftime.  Regardless, NYCFC and Inter Miami played to a 2-2 draw, extending their recent MLS regular season draw streak to four games.  The difference this time was that they both scored more than one goal.

The game was a crazy one, and arguably the Herons outplayed the Pigeons despite being down a man since the 23rd minute.  So, here are three things we learned from NYCFC’s season opener.

3 things we learned from NYCFC’s 2-2 draw with Miami

3. The NYCFC bench painted a picture

With a couple of NYCFC players out due to injury, a few players who might not have made the team sheet were on the bench.  Pascal Jansen’s first bench of the season painted a picture and provided some answers about the roster.

Based on the preseason, it was expected that Tomás Romero would be the backup goalkeeper.  Since he was on the bench, this confirmed that belief.  One can then assume that the new 2025 signing Greg Ranjitsingh will be the third keeper and Alex Rando will mostly play for NYCFC II.  As such, Romero has won the backup role.

In addition, it appears Jansen will utilize some of the Homegrown players.  Drew Baiera, Máximo Carrizo, and Jonathan Shore were all on the bench, with Shore making his MLS debut after halftime.  Of course, Justin Haak started the match.  Things may change once some of the injured players return, but it was nice to see the young players available for the game.

Nico Cavallo was also on the bench and made his debut in the second half.  The newly signed left-back might truly be the option to back up Kevin O’Toole.  It will be interesting to see how many minutes he will earn in his first professional season.

2. Alonso Martínez could become a star

Alonso Martínez picked up from last season, scoring one of the two goals for NYCFC.  The Costa Rican’s second-half goal was a gift, but he pounced on it.  A poor pass allowed him to intercept the ball and run beyond the defenders.  With space in front of him, he directed the ball around the Miami goalkeeper to score the team’s second of the evening.

But Martínez was arguably one of the best NYCFC players in the match.  He constantly made himself available in the box and created runs to open up the attack.  The forward had just the one shot, but that did not matter, for he capitalized on it.  In addition, he did attempt to take more shots or pass the ball to his teammates.

The fact he scored in the season opener means that Martínez could become a star in MLS.  He scored 16 goals in the regular season last year and could score many more in 2025.  This game, and how he played, is just proof that NYCFC has a fantastic player.  Maybe Jansen can unlock his potential even more to make him one of the more threatening forwards in the league.

1. NYCFC should have won the game despite being outplayed

As mentioned, Inter Miami outplayed NYCFC.  They were stronger in the attack and the more threatening side.  Without the red card in the 23rd minute, it is highly possible they would have demolished the team from Queens.

At the same time, NYCFC should not have been outshot 15 to eight.  They should not have had only about 42% of the possession.  They were playing a man up, but yet how they played made it feel like they were the ones who lost somebody due to a red card.  The home side did not care that they were playing with 10 rather than 11.

Despite being outplayed, the visitors still should have won.  They were up 2-1 all the way until the final minutes of stoppage time, when Telasco Segovia scored the tying goal.  NYCFC should have defended better until the very end.

But truthfully the 11 minutes of stoppage time should not have happened.  It appeared longer than necessary regardless of the time stopped during the second half.  In addition, the referees in the VAR booth spent too much time trying to decide whether Mitja Ilenič committed a handball offense in the box.  If something is not clear and obvious, then the match should continue.

No handball was given, but if so much time was not spent on the review, then the fixture would have ended earlier with a 2-1 win.

More importantly, the result could have been a 3-2 win if Julián Fernández scored on the perfect opportunity that went wide in stoppage time.  He had plenty of space in front of him to put the ball into the back of the net, but instead, inaccuracy plagued him to put it on the wrong side of the netting.

Yes, NYCFC should not have been outplayed, but they should have won despite that.  A 2-2 draw against Miami on the road is an acceptable result, but one cannot help but focus on the fact that the Pigeons almost left with three points.