New York City FC v Philadelphia Union: Jansen looking for 90-minute performance from NYCFC

That is the NYCFC coach's challenge to his players ahead of the visit of the Philadelphia Union this weekend.

In some games, Jansen has been disappointed with the way his team have faded after a strong start; last time out against Minnesota United, he identified the opposite problem.

Immediately after that 2-1 defeat, in which Minnesota were two up inside half an hour, Jansen described NYCFC's start to the match as "impossible".

And speaking ahead of the Union game, he added the team would have to "make sure it doesn’t happen again".

Mentality is the key, Jansen explained, as he said: "We've shown over the seven games that we have phases where we have the right mindset and the right body language on the pitch and in how we play.

"However, if you take the last 30 minutes in Atlanta [a 4-3 defeat after leading 3-1], we're not bulletproof enough to deal with that kind of situation.

"And the previous game shows we were not always capable of showing the right mentality early on. If we were, we wouldn't have conceded the goals we did in the first 20 to 25 minutes.

"There's still a lot of room to grow in this area, and that's what we're focusing on."

NYCFC's eight points have them five behind the Union, who are third in the Eastern Conference.

However, Philly have won just one of their past four matches, drawing at home to Orlando City last time out, and reports this week revealed the team were trading record goalscorer Daniel Gazdag to the Columbus Crew.

A free-kick masterclass from the Maestro against the Union in 2016 pic.twitter.com/Dji9SuIhGl

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) April 9, 2025

This is a match-up veteran midfielder Moralez enjoys, having scored five goals and assisted a further seven against Philly in MLS play (including playoffs).

Those 12 goal involvements are his most against any side, while only Jonathan Osorio (13) has more against the Union.

The Union attempted 21 shots in their goalless draw with Orlando, their second-most ever in an MLS match without finding the net.

The outgoing Gazdag created three of those opportunities but did not attempt a single shot himself, while Damiani set the benchmark with four efforts but did not score from chances worth 0.98 expected goals.

WIth Gazdag departing, players such as Damiani must be more clinical moving forward.

The Union love playing both against and at NYCFC, winning six of the past seven games between the sides and each of their last three such away games.

But neither team come into this fixture in great form, with the defeat to Minnesota ending a four-game winning streak at home for NYCFC in the regular season, while goals have dried up for Philly.

They have netted only three times in their past four matches, having scored 10 in the three before that, all of which were victories.

New York City FC – 38.2%

Draw – 26.5%