New York City FC 5 – 1 San Jose Earthquakes
New York, (May 31, 2024) — The NYCFC at Yankee Stadium stretched their unbeaten run to five straight games in MLS thanks to an emphatic 5-1 win against the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night. City were unable to find a breakthrough during the first 45 minutes but did break the deadlock early in the second half through Hannes Wolf.
The hosts were only ahead for three minutes, however, as Amahl Pellegrino found an equalizer for San Jose in the 53rd minute. Cushing’s side would deservedly retake the lead in the 80th minute thanks to a brilliant low drive from Santiago Rodríguez.
Three goals in ten minutes would push City ahead of their opponents, with the first arriving in the 85th minute. Created by the returning Maxi Moralez, his intelligent pass inside found Alonso Martínez in space to convert. The Costa Rican would finish the evening with the match ball after recording the fastest hat trick in Club history thanks to goals in the 92nd and 95th minute.
KEY POINTS
The ‘Boys in Blue’ have been near perfect when playing against the Earthquakes, with a record of 6W-0L-1D against the Western Conference side, The ‘Boys in Blue’ have been perfect at home against the Earthquakes, with New York winning all five home matches against San Jose.
Forward Alonso Martínez made Club history by scoring three goals in 10 minutes.
New York City FC has now tied the longest regular season winning streak in club history (five straight). The team’s last longest winning streak. City’s last winning streak of this length was from September to October in 2022.
Along with being undefeated against San Jose, New York has outscored the Earthquakes in this series with 17 goals, compared to San Jose’s six. Tonight, marks the sixth time New York City FC has scored two or more goals versus San Jose in seven total matchups.
NYC has conceded the third lowest number of goals in MLS (17).
This season, New York City FC has played five matches at Yankee Stadium and has a record of 4W-1L-0D.
The ‘Boys in Blue’ have achieved their highest-winning margin of the season (4) thus far. The last time City won by at least four goals dates to last year’s Leagues Cup win against Toronto FC in July 2023, where the Club was victorious with a 5-0 scoreline. The match against Toronto last season also marks the last time New York City scored five goals.
New York City has a home record of 6W-2L-1D. NYC is now tied for the most home wins in the league shared with Los Angeles FC.
The ‘Boys in Blue’ has scored four goals within the span of 15 minutes tonight. New York has only once previously scored four goals in 15 minutes or fewer of clock time. Important to note however, that in this game of note, they scored two of the four goals during first half extra time: 06/29/2022 vs FC Cincinnati: 45’ in 1st half through 52’ in 2nd half.
PLAYER MILESTONES
Forward Alonso Martínez scored his fourth, fifth, and sixth goals of the season, all within a space of 10 minutes. This is Martínez first-ever hattrick with the club and makes him not only the fourth player in MLS history to score three goals in one game as a substitute but the first in Club history as well. Alonso Martínez has the fastest New York City FC hat-trick besting Mitrita’s 20-minute hat-trick.
Midfielder Maxi Moralez made his first appearance of the season in all competitions after being subbed on in the 74th minute, replacing Hannes Wolf. This is Moralez’s first game played since September 2023, when NYC hosted Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Yankee Stadium in league play and tied 1-1. Additionally, Moralez assisted his first goal of the 2024 Regular Season and his 70th of all time with NYC.
Midfielder Hannes Wolf has made six goal contributions in four of the last five MLS Regular Season matches, scoring three goals and assisting three.
Midfielder Santiago Rodríguez has also recorded goal contributions in four of the last five games in league play, scoring twice and assisting three other goals. Rodríguez leads the team in goal contributions thus far this season, with 11 (6G, 5A) in total through 16 games played. This is his eighth match for the Club where he has both assisted and scored a goal. Lastly, Rodríguez has scored five of his six goals and four of his five assists at home this season.
Midfielder Andrés Perea and Forward Malachi Jones were both credited for the assist on NYC’s last goal that was scored by Martínez in extra-time. Perea and Jones currently have two assists each this season.
Up Next: New York City FC stays at home for another week, hosting fellow Eastern Conference team the Columbus Crew on Friday, June 14 at 7:30pm ET at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York.
SCORING SUMMARY
50’ – NYC – Hannes Wolf [17]
Scored with a right footed shot from the left side of the box with an xG of 17%. Assisted by Santiago Rodríguez [10]
53’ – SJE – Amahl Pellegrino [9]
Scored with a right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 10%. Assisted by Hernán López [23]
80’ – NYC – Santiago Rodríguez [10]
Scored with a right footed shot from the central position outside the box with an xG of 5%.
85’ – NYC Alonso Martínez [16]
Scored with right footed shot from the right side of the box with an xG of 17%. Assisted by Maxi Moralez [27].
90’+2 – NYC Alonso Martínez [16]
Scored with a right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 18%.
90’+5 – NYC Alonso Martínez [16]
Scored with a right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 48%. Assisted by Andrés Perea, second assist by Malachi Jones.
LINEUPS
New York City FC (4-2-3-1)
San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)
Head Coach: Nick Cushing
[49] Matt Freese [5] Birk Risa [12] Strahinja Tanasijević [22] Kevin O’Toole (39’ – [35] Mitja Ilenič) [24] Tayvon Gray [6] James Sands (C) [10] Santiago Rodríguez [55] Keaton Parks (75’ – [8] Andrés Perea) [7] Jovan Mijatović (58’ – [16] Alonso Martínez) [11] Julián Fernández (58’ – [88] Malachi Jones) [17] Hannes Wolf (74’ – [27] Maxi Moralez)Head Coach: Luchi Gonzalez
[25] William Yarbrough [3] Paul Marie (85’ – [19] Preston Judd) [4] Bruno Wilson (35’ – [24] Daniel Munie) [15] Tanner Beason [26] Rodrigues [14] Jackson Yueill (C) [23] Hernán [30] Niko Tsakiris (81’ – [16] Jack Skahan) [9] Amahl Pellegrino [10] Cristian Espinoza [11] Jeremy EbobisseSubs Unused
[1} Luis Barraza [26] Agustín Ojeda [43] Talles MagnoSubs Unused
[6] Alfredo Morales [7] Carlos Gruezo [22] Tommy Thompson [33] Oscar Verhoeven [98] Jacob Jackson [99] Cruz MedinaDISCIPLINE SUMMARY
NYC
Yellow Cards (3)
15’ – Julián Fernández [11] – Poor Sportsmanship
17’ – Strahinja Tanasijević [12] – Bad Foul
60’ – James Sands [6] – Bad Foul
Red Cards (0)
SJ
Yellow Cards (1)
23’ – Jackson Yueill [14] – Bad Foul
Red Cards (0)
OFFICIALS
Referee: Mark Allatin
Ast. Referee 1: Jermey Kieso
Ast. Referee 2: Adam Wienckowski
Fourth official: Pierre-Luc Lauziere
VAR: Daniel Radford
Ast. VAR: Peter Balciunas
MATCH RECAP
A warm summer evening in the Bronx was the setting for New York City FC’s latest fixture as they welcomed the San Jose Earthquakes to Yankee Stadium.
City entered the clash in fine form – winning seven of their last eight games in MLS – and were eager to add to that in their final outing before a bye week.
Head Coach Nick Cushing initially made two changes to the side that overcame the New England Revolution last time out, with Julián Fernández and Jovan Mijatović replacing Agustín Ojeda and Mounsef Bakrar.
Cushing would make one further change after the warm-up as Strahinja Tanasijević replaced Thiago Martins.
Elsewhere, there was a welcome return to the matchday squad for Maxi Moralez following the knee injury he sustained last year.
With the team full of confidence, City started the games at breakneck speed and it saw them almost take the lead inside the first 90 seconds after a dinked ball by Fernández landed on Mijatović’s head, but he was unable to keep the effort on target.
New York City’s relentless pressing early on showed no signs of letting up and was proving a challenge for San Jose as they tried to build out from the back.
In the 21st minute, a well-timed interception from Hannes Wolf allowed him to regain the ball and play Kevin O’Toole in on goal, but the defender dragged his shot wide. A little after the half-hour mark, it was Santiago Rodríguez’s turn to test the San Jose defense with a shot from the edge of the box that zipped just over the crossbar.
In first-half stoppage time, Hernán López tried to give the Earthquakes the lead with a shot from just outside the box, but it did not trouble Matt Freese in the City goal.
Freese would be called into action minutes later, however, after Paul Marie played a one-two with Jeremy Ebobisse – his subsequent shot forcing the shot-stopper into a good save.
San Jose carried that momentum into the start of the second period and came close to taking the lead via a short corner after the ball was quickly worked to López on the edge of the area and he attempted to curl it around Freese. Fortunately for City, his effort skipped outside the post.
Despite that early pressure, it would be City that broke the deadlock in the 50th minute after brilliant work by Rodrîguez down the left. His slaloming run saw him skip by two San Jose defenders and then lay the ball back to Wolf – the Austrian producing a composed finish to put City ahead.
Unfortunately, New York City’s lead would be short-lived after a quick counterattack from San Jose allowed Amahl Pellegrino to make a run in behind and finish past Freese.
Cushing made what would prove to be two influential changes in the 59th minute as Malachi Jones and Alonso Martínez came on for Mijatović and Fernández.
The two almost combined instantly to put City back in front after Jones danced along the byline and cut it back to Martínez, but the pass was intercepted at the last minute.
At the other end, San Jose were proving a threat on the break and Niko Tsakiris almost gave his side the lead after creating an overload down City’s right-hand side, but instead saw his effort crash against the woodwork.
The two sides were now exchanging shots at goal, and Jones would be the next man to test San Jose’s defense. The winger exchanged passes with Hannes Wolf and then zipped a low shot that just skipped by William Yarbrough’s near post.
The 74th minute would see a welcome return to the pitch for Moralez. The diminutive playmaker entered the game to loud cheers alongside Andrés Perea, with the pair replacing Keaton Parks and Hannes Wolf.
Moralez’s quality took little time to show itself as he danced by a San Jose defender before playing a line-breaking pass into Perea. Although the midfielder was able to get a shot away, his poked effort was wide of the target.
Pressure was mounting on San Jose’s goal and City would retake the lead in the 85th minute as Rodríguez added his name to the scoresheet.
The move began after a loose ball was claimed by Martínez inside the penalty area. The Costa Rican calmly laid it back to Rodríguez, who after taking a touch to get it out of his feet, unleashed a low drive past the goalkeeper.
It almost quickly became three after a delightful run down the left by Moralez took him inside the penalty area and allowed him to fire off a curled effort that only narrowly missed the target.
City’s third goal would arrive in the 85th minute and it would confirm a memorable return for Moralez as he recorded his first assist of the campaign. The playmaker’s precise pass inside from the right found Martínez in space and he calmly finished past the goalkeeper.
The Costa Rican was in the mood for more and he would finish the night with the match ball after a frenzied three minutes in injury time saw him claim two goals.
The first of those two goals owed much to Martínez’s relentless pressing as he pounced on a loose pass to race through on goal and score. With a hat trick in sight, Martínez peeled to the back post where he was found with a low cross by Perea – the 25-year-old slamming the ball past Yarbrough.
That would be City’s last goal of the evening as they ran out 5-1 winners over San Jose – the result proving to be their biggest winning margin of the season so far.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
NEW YORK CITY FC HEAD COACH NICK CUSHING
On Alonso Martínez and if his performance tonight affects the starting number nine position…
“A guy comes in and scores three, it’s a statement, right? I can’t say enough about Alonso Martínez, even last year, and I appreciate the guys who are coming here, and you ask me why he’s not in squads and why he’s not seeing the field. He came last year in a difficult moment because he was in preseason from Belgium, and we were midseason, and we were fighting to try and get into the postseason. It was just so difficult for him. He works incredibly hard. His character is excellent, whether he’s in the team or out of the team. His standards and his enthusiasm are 10 out of 10 all the time. I said to [the team before the New England match], we must have standards as a team, wherever we go, whatever position we’re in, and we must have intensity in the locker room. We must be together, and we speak a lot about my team is together and they have to be fighting for each other. They must be looking around thinking that’s my shirt. That is the intensity of keeping your level. What Alonso has done tonight is he gave himself more than half a chance of being in the team, right? If we can get the bench doing what they’ve done tonight, the team playing the way that they’ve been playing, the hardest part of my job is picking a team and again, tonight was difficult.”
On Maxi Moralez contributing an assist and how he makes the players around him better…
“I love talking about the game, right? I mean you could sit here now for the next five hours and talk about Maxi Moralez. Since I’ve been here, he is the greatest player to ever play for our football club. He’s had the biggest impact. He’s almost like having a coach on the field when he plays like he did tonight. It’s an absolute masterclass. I think you have certain players in the game that can literally just pick the game up and just put it in his pocket and just almost conduct the game like the conductor conducts the orchestra. He’s that guy, you know, on 70 minutes or whatever minute I put him in, I was frustrated because I thought the game is hanging on the balance. Tonight was masterclass vintage Maxi Moralez. He played like a 21-year-old. When we were in the locker room, we said he played like he’s 21. So important to us. When I was given the opportunity last year to bring him back, I sent the plane and the car and everything to pick him up to bring him. I’m so happy for him because he’s worked incredibly hard to get back to where he is.”
On whether getting the three points or scoring the five goals was most important…
“The three points is probably the most important part. I have written on my office wall for everybody when they come in, the most important thing is the three points. I want our team to play well, I want our team to perform, I want our team to defend well. But last week in New England, it was probably the worst we played in a long time. I take the three points, no problem. Three points for me is the most important. But I do believe, and without dodging the press, the five goals, I’m happy we delivered it for the fans because when I came here in 2020-2021, we used to have crazy games. We had crazy games where the crowd is up, and I want to go back to those days where we deliver for our fans. It’s been a long time coming this, putting goals on the board, getting the fans cheering, getting the atmosphere up and delivering what our fans deserve, attacking football goals. I’m happy for the fans tonight because they’ve stuck with us. They’ve helped us a lot in tight games. They’ve sung us over the line. To really enjoy it, drink a cold beer, see three, four, five go in is important for our football club.”
NEW YORK CITY FC FORWARD ALONSO MARTÍNEZ
Sobre su primer hattrick con el equipo…
“Bueno, agradecido con Dios por la oportunidad que me da de jugar y bueno, es importante en mi carrera. Un agradecido a mis compañeros que también luchamos hasta el final.”
Thoughts on scoring his first hat trick with club…
“I’m grateful to God for the opportunity he gives me to play well, it is important for my career. I’m also grateful to my teammates who continue to fight until the end.”
Sobre el regreso de Maxi Moralez y el ambiente esta noche…
“Fenomenal, creo que hoy la noche estuvo feliz, el regreso de Maxi [Moralez] creo que es importantísimo para nosotros aprovecharlo y bueno, ya de vuelta nos va a aportar muchísimo.”
On Maxi Moralez’s return and the stadium’s atmosphere tonight…
“Phenomenal for the team. I believe that tonight was great, the return of Maxi was very important for us to take advantage of. Once he is back, he is going to contribute a lot for us.”
NEW YORK CITY FC FORWARD SANTIAGO RODRÍGUEZ
Sobre anotado otro gol y como se siente el equipo ahora…
“Estoy muy feliz por haber marcado otro gol, en lo personal es muy importante y después, creo que como se estaba dando el partido, el haber marcado el dos a uno nos dio una tranquilidad y después entramos con los otros tres goles de Alonso [Martínez], que fue una tremenda locura lo que hizo. Entonces creo que estamos todos muy felices.”
On scoring another goal and how the team is feeling…
“I’m very happy that I scored another goal, it’s personally very important. With the way that [the game] was going, scoring the two [goals] gave us some tranquility. Then afterwards came Alonso [Martínez’s] three goals, and what he did was incredible. We’re all very happy.”
Sobre el próximo partido contra Columbus Crew…
“Creo que va a ser muy importante. Ahora tenemos este break por fecha FIFA [internacional] y tenemos que volver con todo, con la mentalidad pensando en ganar porque es un rival difícil.”
On the next game against Columbus Crew…
“It is going to be a very important game. Now we have some time off due to the FIFA [international] break, and we have to return with everything and with the mentality of winning this game, because they are a difficult team.”
NEW YORK CITY FC MIDFIELDER MAXI MORALEZ
Sobre cómo se siente al estar de vuelta con el equipo…
“Estoy contento y feliz, sin duda es algo especial porque después de ocho meses fuera ha sido difícil, pero con la ayuda de la familia, el increíble trabajo del grupo, el trabajo con el doctor, nuestro staff médico y mis compañeros, me han ayudado muchísimo. Hoy por suerte pude volver y ayudé para que el equipo gane.”
On how he feels about being back with the squad…
“I am happy and glad, without a doubt it is something special because after eight months out it has been difficult, but with the help of my family, the incredible work of the team with the doctor, our medical staff, and my teammates, they have helped me a lot. Today, fortunately, I was able to return and I helped the team win.”
NEW YORK CITY FC MIDFIELDER JAMES SANDS
On the difference in mentality from last year to this year…
“The way the second half started is not how we expect to play as a team. It was far too open, and they had too many chances. I think the big difference was just the guys who came off the bench. Maxi [Moralez] made such a difference. Alonso [Martínez] made such a difference. Guys, not Maxi [Moralez], but guys who may be upset not to start, coming on with such a positive attitude and make the rest of the game so easy for us. I think a big credit to those guys, and it’ll bode well for the rest of the season.”
On scoring five and the feeling amongst the team… “Yeah, it’s a great feeling when, when you score five, it doesn’t happen often, so you have to enjoy it when it does. [It was] nice to see Alonso [Martínez] get a hat trick. [It was] nice to see Maxi [Moralez] back. [There are] a lot of positives that we can take from this game.”
