New York City FC (NYCFC) coach Pascal Jansen has expressed that his team is prepared for a crucial clash against Charlotte FC on Friday night following a painful penalty shootout defeat at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night, which saw them miss the opportunity to conclude their best-of-three playoff series in two games.
NYCFC began the series triumphantly with a 1-0 victory in Charlotte on October 28, thanks to a brilliant solo goal from Alonso Martinez. However, they struggled to replicate that performance on home turf Saturday night, with Charlotte hitting the crossbar twice in the first half.
Charlotte evened the series by securing a 7-6 win on penalties after a goalless draw. NYCFC’s Augustin Ojeda and Julian Fernandez missed their penalties, despite Matt Freese initially giving the hosts an advantage by saving Charlotte’s Ashley Westwood’s shot.
Jansen’s team now needs to secure another road victory to advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The Dutch coach believes that the win in Game 1 at Charlotte boosts his players’ confidence for Friday’s decisive game. He also draws encouragement from NYCFC’s four matches against Charlotte this season, in which New York has won twice and drawn once, achieving three clean sheets.
“We beat the odds. We won there,” Jansen stated. “If you look at the four games that we’ve played so far, three clean sheets.
“We were quite dominant as well in their stadium, so those are ingredients that give us a lot of confidence going into this game – that it’s possible. Now we have to make it happen.”
Charlotte, which boasted the best home record in the MLS regular season, underscores the challenge facing NYCFC on Friday night. Jansen emphasized the need for his team’s quality on the ball to surpass their performance at Yankee Stadium to secure a semi-final spot.
“To beat a team like Charlotte, which is a very good team and well-organized, you have to be very, very clinical on the ball,” Jansen mentioned.
He anticipates that Game 3 will be decided by small margins and stated that his team is “fully aware” of their task on Friday night, predicting a “heated game” in Charlotte.
Meanwhile, NYCFC attacker Nico Fernandez remarked that Friday’s decider will hinge on “small details.”
Fernandez noted that New York has become familiar with the “ins and outs” of the Charlotte team after facing them twice in two weeks.
“We’ve been playing each other three times in a row now, so as players, we know kind of our ways and our ins and outs,” Fernandez said.
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