Matchday 16: New York City FC returns vs the Crew in Columbus

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Update 11:00 pm ET: FULL TIME — Columbus Crew 1-2 New York City FC

NYCFC makes a winning start to the season’s second half

An early goal from Nico Fernández Mercau and a late-ish second from Agustín Ojeda carried New York City FC to a 2-1 win in Columbus, a first away win there since the 2017 season.

New York Soccer JournalAndrew Leigh

Update 8:40 pm ET: HALFTIME — Columbus Crew 0-1 New York City FC

A converted penalty kick from Nico Fernández Mercau gives NYCFC a lead at halftime. It's been a performance light on chances for either team through 45 minutes, but one that's been mostly comfortable for the visitors, as even though they've held less of the possession than their opponents, the Crew's only good scoring chance of the half came off a set piece, and Max Arfsten's pull-down on Agustín Ojeda after he'd beaten the Crew defender in the box was fully deserving of the spot kick.

The precision 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/ZW0TVIlISH

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) July 23, 2026

Update 6:45 pm ET: Lineups are out and New York City has Bénie Traoré starting and making his debut, with James Sands and Thiago Martins partnered in central-defense, Nico Fernández Mercau in there along with Agustín Ojeda and Malachi Jones as the attacking complements to Traoré, and Matt Freese back in goal.

For Columbus, Malte Amundsen starts against the team he won MLS Cup with in 2021, as does Freese's USMNT teammate Max Arfsten and his USMNT competition, goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. Tarun Karumnchi, the 49th overall pick from December's MLS SuperDraft, makes his MLS debut in the midfield, a big test for a player who counts six MLS Next Pro appearances in May and June as his pro experience since the SuperDraft.

New York City FC is back and set to play a Major League Soccer match for the first time in 60 days.

In that time away, the club's roster got stronger on paper, though despite one big new signing (Bénie Traoré) and two first-team players returning from loan (James Sands, Mitja Ilenič), NYCFC still returns from its World Cup break with nine members of the squad ruled out with injuries for the first game back.

The lineup Pascal Jansen rolls out against the Crew will look different, and it won't be anything close to full-strength, but the potential for a Bénie Traoré debut should offset some of the uneasiness over all the injuries still sidelining key members of the squad.

They will play in a familiar place against a familiar opponent, since NYCFC's next-to-last match prior to the months-long pause for the FIFA World Cup was also against Columbus Crew at their stadium, though in the US Open Cup quarterfinals, a quarterfinal that the Crew won.

As play resumes, NYCFC sits in 8th Place (5W-4D-6L, 19 points) in the Eastern Conference with a three-point cushion over Columbus (4W-4D-7L, 16 points) in 10th Place. Neither team has a firm grip on qualification for the MLS Cup Playoffs as the season resumes, and both clubs enter this match with depleted and slightly work-in-progress squads.

New York City FC vs Columbus Crew Head-to-Head

New York City FC is still looking for its first-ever win at what is now "ScottsMiracle-Gro Field," the Crew's new stadium that's been open since the 2021 season. Their road record all-time in Columbus, Ohio is a rough 1W-6D-9L with a -12 goal differential, and they've been held scoreless in back-to-back away trips to face the Crew.

NYCFC did beat the Crew at Yankee Stadium in a May match that featured a hat trick from Hannes Wolf, who Sky Sport Austria reports might not have much time left spent as a New York City FC player. This matchup historically has been almost completely dominated by the home team, though NYCFC has picked up points in Columbus, they've mostly just come from playing the Crew to a draw.

New York City Scouting Report

• Player Availability: Drew Baiera (knee/ACL), Alonso Martínez (knee/ACL), Maxi Moralez (knee/ACL), Kai Trewin (foot), Aiden O'Neill (ankle), Kevin O'Toole (groin/abdomen), Keaton Parks (leg), Raul Gustavo (leg), and Mac Learned (leg) are all out.
• Pascal Jansen indicated O'Toole was one-to-two weeks away from being back in full training with the team as he recovers from a mid-May surgery. The timeline on Aiden O'Neill following his ankle surgery is four-to-six weeks, with a longer recovery expected for Kai Trewin who had a fracture in his foot that needed surgery. Parks got hurt during warmups the last time NYCFC was in Columbus and is still not back to full-team training, but will be "soon," according to Jansen.
• Matt Freese spent his summer starting in goal for the United States at the World Cup, but only just returned for his first training session with his NYCFC teammates on Monday. He's in Columbus, so Freese might be ready to jump straight into the process of playing past his high-profile mistake against Belgium.
• Bénie Traoré seems set to debut, seen in training with the team since July 13, and with Pascal Jansen already sounding impressed by the chemistry forming between the new forward and the team's most prolific attacker thus far this season, Nico Fernández Mercau.
• Speaking of Fernández Mercau, is this match going to provide any extra levels of transfer-related intrigue around him or any of the other players mentioned with rumored NYCFC departures? Nico has been in the rumor mill for reportedly drawing a bid worth $18 million and also, allegedly, asking to be sold. As alluded to above, Wolf supposedly wants out of NYCFC and is drawing interest from (unnamed) teams in Europe, while there's a claim circulating that Freese is a target of Celtic FC, plus some other (unnamed) English clubs. The squad statuses of those three players will be worth an extra bit of scrutiny when the Starting XI gets announced.
• The confirmed absence of Raul Gustavo might bring clarity to where James Sands lines up in his second re-debut. Sands told the media this week that he's played both in the midfield and at left-center-back during NYCFC's unmentioned, un-promoted pre-Crew summer friendlies. With both of Thiago Martins' usual left-center-back partners this season, Raul Gustavo and Trewin, ruled out with injuries, Sands might be needed the most in central defense.

James Sands on injuries, returning to New York City FC, his role under Pascal Jansen

“Going through the injuries was really tough for me,” said James Sands while explaining his decision to move back to NYCFC, where he’s now excited to play for Pascal Jansen and open to slotting into either the midfield or defense.

New York Soccer JournalAndrew Leigh

Columbus Scouting Report

• Player Availability: Defender Brooks Lennon (groin) and forward Wessam Abou Ali (knee) are out, while midfielder André Gomes (thigh) is questionable. Defender Rudy Camacho enters one yellow card away from facing a one-match suspension for accumulation.
• Columbus also will be without its leading scorer Diego Rossi, sold to CF Monterrey this summer, plus a big group of new players they acquired, but who have yet to arrive and begin playing with their new club. That group is: Brais Méndez, the Crew's new Designated Player attacker signed from Real Sociedad in Spain's La Liga; Lautaro Giaccone, an attacking midfielder loaned in from Argentina's Argentinos Juniors; Andrés Herrera, a defender who'd been with the Crew on loan but is now a permanent signing from River Plate in Argentina; and Eric Bailly, 32-year-old former Manchester United defender most recently with Real Oviedo in Spain who joined the Crew on a free transfer.
• Laurent Courtois remains as the Crew's interim manager after they fired Henrik Rydström following a rocky 16-game stint in charge. Courtois had his first game leading Columbus, and picked up his first win, while hosting NYCFC in the Open Cup. It's a very small sample size, but Courtois has won two of the three matches he's ever managed against NYCFC: That Cup quarterfinal with the Crew, plus one with CF Montréal at the end of the 2024 regular season.
• The two World Cup participants from Columbus, Steven Moreira, of spiritual third-place finishers Cabo Verde, and Max Arfsten of the United States, are said to both be available for selection for this first MLS match back. Arfsten curled in the winning goal back when Columbus knocked NYCFC out of the Open Cup quarterfinals in May.
• In our latest opponent scouting report with Pat Murphy of Massive Report, he lays out the state of the Columbus roster for our Matthew Mangam and says that the best solution for Columbus's current lack of offense might be a great performance in possession and from their defenders.

Scouting the Crew: 5 things to know before MLS returns in Ohio

The Crew sold Diego Rossi and new summer reinforcements like defender Eric Bailly and forward Brais Méndez have yet to arrive, so Laurent Courtois will hope for his team to defend and control possession against NYCFC.

New York Soccer JournalMatthew Mangam