A nearly two-year recovery from a broken leg meant that Malachi Jones had long waits between everything for New York City FC.
He waited from May 12, 2024, the date of his first career MLS goal, through to July 25, 2026, the next time he'd find the back of the net for New York City FC, scoring their third as they beat Chicago Fire FC 3-1 at Yankee Stadium.
This win over Chicago was Jones's first start at Yankee Stadium since the brutal injury suffered on June 28, 2024, a full-speed collision with Orlando City SC goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar during the early portion of what ended as a 4-2 win for NYCFC. So, a wait of 757 days between starts at NYCFC's primary home venue.
Jones waited 652 days just to play another match for New York City FC after the broken leg, finally returning from the difficult injury that required two surgeries on April 11, 2026, for the final 13 minutes of an away loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
"I'm thankful that Pascal trusts me to keep getting those opportunities, because he's leaving me on the pitch. It feels great to be at home and be on the field again," Jones said in the mixed zone at Yankee Stadium following the win over Chicago.
New York Soccer Journal's Matthew Mangam asked Pascal Jansen directly about Jones following the win, and the NYCFC coach said of the goal to make it 3-1, "If you think about what he's been through in the past two years, it's been a blessing for him to be on pitch even. So, to get a goal is like the cherry on top."
Perfectly set, perfectly finished 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/creJzmT3hx
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) July 26, 2026
Jansen also spoke to the nature of the goal — a tap-in finish capping a smooth sequence up the field, from Nicolás Fernández Mercau to a deeper-lying Talles Magno to Andrés Perea and then Agustín Ojeda. "That...is what we talk about a lot," he said, "because that gives a guy like Mali [Jones] at least five goals a season extra when you're there at the right spot with the run of play."
It's extra fitting that Jones scored his goal exactly on the side of the Yankee Stadium pitch where his 2024 injury occurred, while running toward this same goal on that Friday night in June two years back. Ojeda assisting Jones also feels right, as they have come out of the World Cup break in place as Jansen's preferred wide attackers, with a starter's role no longer there for a previous incumbent, Hannes Wolf.
That's an interesting triangle of players to consider, in that Jones was plucked from Lipscomb University with the eighth pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft; Ojeda was a high-priced U22 Initiative signing in early 2024 that's taken a different form of patience to tap into his potential as a starter for NYCFC; and Wolf is right near the Designated Player threshold as a TAM Player with a $1.5 million annual compensation package, but one who now finds himself relegated to the bench and possibly on the way out this summer.
