Update 9:45 pm ET: FINAL: New York City FC 1-2 Charlotte FC
Another home match ends in disappointing fashion for NYCFC as they lost to Charlotte 2-1 on goals from Idan Toklomati (54th minute) and Kerwin Vargas (90th minute).
New York City made it interesting, briefly, as Nico Fernández Mercau banged home a goal from some distance in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, but it wasn't enough. Make it four straight MLS matches without a win for New York City, and they'll have a quick turnaround as they look to stop their slide, with FC Cincinnati visiting Yankee Stadium this Wednesday night.
Update 8:50 pm ET: Halftime: New York City FC 0-0 Charlotte FC
New York City had the best of the chances, but Agustín Ojeda hit the woodwork and Kristijan Kahlina made two saves to keep it scoreless through the first 45 minutes.
Update 6:45 pm ET: The Starting XIs are out, with New York City captain and Designated Player, Thiago Martins, returning after a two-game injury absence.
Charlotte will hand a first MLS start to 19-year-old Benin international Rodolfo Aloko, who signed a first-team contract with Charlotte on April 10 after scoring six goals and adding two assists in five MLS Next Pro appearances so far this season.
Below you'll find the original preview portion of this post, which always publishes at 12:00 am ET on each Matchday.
• Matchday 8: New York City FC vs Charlotte FC
• Date and Kickoff Time: Saturday, April 18, 7:40 pm ET
• Venue: Citi Field, Queens, NY
• Forecast: Cloudy, breezy, pleasant, 55F/12C
• Watch: Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Callum Williams and Lori Lindsey (English), Alejandro Figueredo and Tony Cherchi (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Tori Penso (referee), Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt (assistant referees), Matthew Corrigan (fourth official), David Barrie (VAR), Karsten Gillwald (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will be in the light blue Excelsior Kit; Charlotte will wear the black Fortress Kit
New York City FC returns to Citi Field to play a second straight Major League Soccer match in Queens as they host Charlotte FC.
It's a rematch of the Round One best-of-three series the teams played in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, which New York City won in a decisive win-or-go-home Game 3 played at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium.
Both teams have identical records through their first seven MLS matches of the season – 3W-2D-2L, 11 points, but with New York City one spot ahead of Charlotte in the Eastern Conference standings thanks to a superior +5 goal differential.
New York City will be trying to snap a three-match winless run in league play, though on Tuesday, April 14, they did post a 5-2 US Open Cup Round of 32 win over third-division Westchester SC. There's some positive momentum going into the Charlotte clash, though this has been a historically hard-to-predict fixture.
New York City vs Charlotte Head-to-Head
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 13 | -1 |
Four of Charlotte's five wins over New York City came further south, at Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina.
Charlotte's only win as the away team came in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, which was played at Red Bull Arena on August 17, 2022, during Nick Cushing's stint as interim head coach following Ronny Deila's departure for Standard Liege in Belgium.
Technically, Charlotte "won" their last visit to New York City in the MLS Cup Playoffs, when they held NYCFC to a 0-0 draw and prevailed 7-6 on penalties in Game 2 of their best-of-three Round One series.
It took New York City until their sixth head-to-head with Charlotte to earn a win, but that 2-1 win on April 27, 2024 – via dramatic last-gasp Alonso Martínez goal assisted by Santi Rodríguez – opened a stretch in which New York City has posted a record of 4W-1D-1L in their last six meetings with Charlotte.
New York City Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Andrés Perea (leg), Alonso Martínez (knee), Max Murray (leg), and Drew Baiera (knee) are Out.
• Will Thiago Martins play? Last time New York City played at Citi Field, the Brazilian center-back picked up a right thigh injury late during the 1-1 draw with St. Louis City SC, an injury that has kept him out of back-to-back games in Vancouver and Westchester. During his pre-match press conference, Pascal Jansen said of his captain, "Thiago is trending in a very good direction. He was on pitch again today. So that is, for us as a team, a big one to see back on pitch."
• New York City scored five times against Westchester, but they enter Citi Field following back-to-back futile attacking performances against MLS competition, scoring only once in the 51st minute against St. Louis despite having plenty of other good chances, then not creating any good chances to speak of while losing 2-0 in Vancouver.
• Pascal Jansen made no promises Talles Magno would find himself in the Starting XI thanks to the hat trick he scored in the Open Cup, saying in his pre-match press conference that, "Physically, he's not at the level just yet where he needs to be in order to be competitive enough with the guys that are the starters at the moment." Talles leads MLS players in substitute appearances made (7) so far this season, and his role coming off the bench seems likely to continue for the time being.
• How many more minutes will Malachi Jones see, if any? The dynamic winger is being eased back into action following a prolonged recovery from two surgeries to address a broken leg suffered in June 2024, with Jones playing 13 minutes in Vancouver and 22 minutes in Mount Vernon.
Charlotte Scouting Report
• Player Availability: No players listed with injury concerns.
• Pep Biel is Charlotte's key attacking player, with the Spanish attacking midfielder already on six goal contributions this season, good for a spot in the Top 10 of all MLS players. Biel had an assist in his last start against NYCFC, Charlotte's 2-0 home win on July 12, 2025, but was out with an injury late last season and entirely missed the playoff series between these two teams.
• Goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina played the hero when Charlotte last played in New York City, with Kahlina prevailing over Matt Freese in the PK shootout at Yankee Stadium following Game 2 of the playoff series. Kahlina might be Freese's most consistent rival for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, and the Charlotte stopper is once again off to a strong start in 2026, leading all MLS goalkeepers with 35 saves made while also ranking fifth with a 79.5% save percentage.
• Will this be the last time we see Wilfried Zaha facing New York City FC in Charlotte colors? Zaha's high-priced loan to Charlotte expires in July and there are already rumors, and social media posts made by his partner, linking him with an exit. Zaha to date has scored 12 goals and added eight assists in 41 total appearances with Charlotte, and has scored goals in back-to-back MLS matches – though he missed Charlotte's last league game while serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation.
• Tim Ream has been a constant in the middle of the Charlotte defense, but he's been adjusting to life with a new regular partner in central defense: 21-year-old Morrison Agyemang, who has started and gone all 90 minutes in Charlotte's last five league matches. Agyemang is by far the youngest member of the regular Charlotte defense, since Ream is 38 and fullbacks Harry Toffolo (30) and Nathan Byrne (33) are also seasoned veterans.
