New York City FC recorded a 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night. Andrés Perea’s early goal gave New York City FC the edge in Kansas City, but a second-half equalizer from Dániel Sallói saw the teams share the points. Sebastiano Musu impressed on his MLS debut, nearly scoring twice

Match Recap

New York City FC returned to the road on Saturday night, facing off against Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park.

With momentum behind them following a dramatic midweek win over Orlando City SC, Pascal Jansen’s men were eager to cap off the week on a high note.

The Dutchman made three changes to the starting XI, bringing in Tayvon Gray, Jonny Shore, and Julián Fernández in place of Strahinja Tanasijević, Hannes Wolf, and Agustín Ojeda.

New York City started brightly, asserting themselves early and carving out a pair of chances inside the opening five minutes through Fernández and Alonso Martínez.

The Costa Rican remained a lively presence, going close again in the seventh and thirteenth minutes, only to see a first-time finish denied by a superb last-ditch block from John Pulskamp.

Sporting Kansas City responded with attacking intent of their own. Shapi Suleymanov tested Matt Freese in the 17th minute, and Logan Ndenbe followed that up with a low effort that forced a sharp save from the NYCFC goalkeeper.

The breakthrough, however, belonged to the visitors. In the 22nd minute, Andrés Perea broke the deadlock after a well-timed run through the middle was rewarded with a pinpoint pass from Maxi Moralez. Perea calmly drove toward goal before dispatching a low, accurate strike past Pulskamp to make it 1-0.

Sporting pushed for a quick equalizer, with Suleymanov once again cutting inside from the right and forcing Freese into action.

The shot-stopper’s busy night continued on the brink of halftime, when he acrobatically tipped a dangerous half-volley from Daniel Sallói over the bar to preserve New York City’s lead heading into the break.

The visitors showed no signs of easing off as the second half began. Justin Haak carved out New York City’s first opportunity of the period, rising to meet a cross with a firm header that was blocked.

Haak came even closer just after the hour mark. Driving the move himself with a powerful run and incisive pass in behind, he continued his run and latched onto a loose ball, firing goalward, only for Pulskamp to produce a strong save.

In response, Jansen turned to his bench four minutes later, introducing Ojeda in place of Shore.

With the game creeping past the 70-minute mark, the hosts rallied. Ndenbe found space in the heart of the area, but his header looped narrowly over.

Sporting KC would find their breakthrough in the 74th minute, as Dániel Sallói pounced on a rebound to draw the sides level.

Jansen reacted swiftly, making a triple substitution: Sebastiano Musu came on for his MLS debut, joined by Seymour Reid and Nico Cavallo. Departing the action were Martínez, Kevin O’Toole, and Fernández.

Musu nearly made an instant impression, unleashing an ambitious strike from distance that whistled just wide of the target.

Moments later, he combined with Reid to burst in behind the Kansas City backline, only to be halted by a firm challenge. Determined to mark his debut in style, Musu tried his luck again from range soon after.

The momentum was firmly with New York City. A slick move involving Musu, Maxi Moralez, and Perea saw the ball break kindly to the latter, but he couldn’t quite set himself, and his shot skidded wide.