Copyright AM New York
NYCFC shocked Charlotte FC to win 3-1 on the road in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. Nicolás Fernández Mercau and Alonso Martínez scored either side of halftime to march the Boys in Blue through to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the number-one-seeded Philadelphia Union. “The first 20 minutes were very rough for us, but we got through it,” head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match. “Once we got through it, we started to control the rhythm, control the game, and that is a massive achievement playing in this stadium.” City weathered an early Charlotte storm to start the match and survived an additional 12 minutes of injury time at the end, and Fernandez Mercau doubled his tally to seal the victory with two minutes left from time. Idan Toklomati gave Charlotte hope in the final 10 minutes, breaking his six-game goal drought and ending Charlotte’s playoff barren streak. It was not enough to pull the match back for the winningest home side during the 2025 regular season as the Crown crashed out in the same stage they did last season. However, the Boys in Blue did not walk away from North Carolina unscathed. Andres Perea suffered a season-ending injury in the 71st minute after landing awkwardly on his ankle. “We think it’s a fracture, but that has to be confirmed,” Jansen said. Additionally, Aidan O’Neill was shown a yellow card, his second of the tie, for kicking a ball at Wilfried Zaha’s head after a foul had been called. The Australian is suspended for one match, and City will be without two key figures in the midfield when they travel to Philadelphia after the international break. Fernández Mercau seized the game on his own in the second minute of added time in the first half, starting a run 15 yards from his own penalty box to finish in the other end 22 seconds later to break the deadlock. It was the perfect time to score — right before the half and in front of a packed Bank of America Stadium, silencing the 30,000-plus Crown fans in NC. Captain Tim Ream had the chance to stop the Argentine at the start of the counterattack, but the former Premier League defender did not time his tackle right, and Fernández Mercau was able to skip past him and barge on. “The way we scored gave us a lot of energy and it was a big slap in the face for Charlotte,” Jansen said. City doubled their lead five minutes after the break with another moment of swift, individual brilliance, this time from talisman Martinez. Zaha took a rogue shot from a corner, and Maxi Moralez sent the Costa Rican on his way, one-on-one with Nathan Byrne, and slipping the ball past Kristijan Kahlina. Charlotte’s early pressure was characterized by Brandt Bronico’s miss in the 34th minute. He had a brilliant chance to put his team up after Toklomati sold two NYCFC defenders and found him on the right side of the box. But the midfielder from Maryland leaned too far back and blasted the golden opportunity over the bar. Charlotte outshot New York seven to two in the first half, and ended up almost doubling the shot count by the end of the match, 14-8. However, six of City’s shots were on target, and Toklomati’s goal was Charlotte’s lone shot on target. “That was the message we gave going into this game, that we had to be more clinical in these types of games,” Jansen said. Much was made of Charlotte having home-field advantage for this decisive third game, but Jansen got his tactics spot on once again in NC. Hannes Wolf came back into the lineup for Raul Gustavo, and his tireless work rate troubled Byrne all night.It did not sacrifice the defensive shape either, as the in-form Justin Haak and captain Thiago Martins kept Kerwin Vargas, Toklomati, and Zaha mostly quiet during the match. Toklomati took his chance to halve the deficit well, reacting quickly to substitute Archie Goodwin’s flick from a corner. The Australian almost scored his own, seeing a scorpion kick effort from inside the box six minutes into injury time go just wide of the post. But City were able to stamp the win with a Fernandez Mercau brace, as Wolf picked out the summer signing off another counter-attack, and he finished with aplomb with a chip past Kahlina.
