Pascal Jansen urged his FC players in New York City to find consistency after claiming bragging in the Hudson River Derby last week.
After having won three games without a victory in all competitions, NYCFC won a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls and moved to the seventh in the Eastern Conference.
The pigeons welcome the Chicago Fire in Yankee Stadium this weekend and Jansen hopes that his team can build on their latest victory.
“Consistency is still our goal, it is still our goal,” said Jansen. “That doesn't change after today.
“This is a good step forward, but I am already looking forward to the next game to see if we can stay consistent.”
Justin Haak, who took the assist for the opening goal of Alonso Martinez, echoed Jansen's thoughts before he was confronted opposite the fire.
“The stadium was great and the fans all came out to support us after what a difficult week has been,” added home -grown Defender hook.
“This victory is perfect for us, and hopefully we can build on it.”
pic.twitter.com/2vchr8jpop
– New York City FC (@NewYorkCityFC) May 18, 2025
After a 4-1 thrashing by Charlotte FC, the fire booked their place in the Quarter finals of the US Open Cup with a 3-1 win over the New England Revolution in midweek.
Jonathan Bamba caused Eric Klein's own goal before Hugo Cuypers continued his fine shape with a different strike before the replacement Philip Zinckernagel sealed the victory.
“I think we are generally trying to set this group that you can play three games in a week, and that it is not such a big problem,” said head coach Gregg Berhalter.
“We don't play a midweek next week, but for us we played six boys, and it was a group that had the wish, and we wanted to get a good performance.”
The fire is ninth in the Eastern Conference prior to NYCFC, but Berhalter emphasized the importance of going far in the US Open Cup.
“Just like all the teams that compete in it, we want to try to win,” Berhalter added. “And it is no different for us. The club has four open cups. Why not try to make it five?”.
Players to watch
NYCFC – Alonso Martinez
Martinez scored the first of the two goals of NYCFC in their victory over the Red Bulls on Saturday.
He has scored 11 goals in the regular season at home since last July, connected to Tai Baribo for the most in MLS at the time.
Chicago Fire – Philip Zinckernagel
Zinckernagel has contributed to at least one goal in four consecutive regular season matches for the fire.
The club record of five consecutive road races with a target contribution has been achieved four times, most recently by Brandt Bronico in 2018.
Match -Forecast: NYCFC WIN
NYCFC has never lost a home game against Chicago (W8 D3), although the fire earned a 2-2 draw in their last road against the pigeons, cutting a loss of eight games on the road in the series.
But the hosts of this weekend have won eight of their last 10 house competitions in the regular season that date from last October (L2). NYCFC has also held clean sheets in three of their last four home competitions.
The 4-1 victory of Chicago in Charlotte was their second roads with a margin of three goals in the game in the regular season since 2020 (4-1 in Toronto FC in 2024). The victory was the fourth road victory of the Fire of the season, with the team since 2012 (six) no longer won away anymore away in a single season.
Opta wins probability
NYCFC – 53.3%
Drawing – 23.9%
Chicago Fire – 22.8%