3 things we learned as NYCFC moves on after U.S. Open Cup win over Westchester | OneFootball

When New York City FC last played in the U.S. Open Cup in 2025, they were ousted from the tournament by USL Championship side Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.  In fact, not including the MLS Next Pro side’s run in 2024, the Pigeons last won a game in the tournament in 2022.  At least, that was the case until Tuesday night.

NYCFC beat Westchester SC 5-2, scoring four of the five goals in the first half.  Talles Magno had a hat-trick, while Agustín Ojeda and Arnau Farnós scored the others.  Truthfully, this was a brilliant match for Magno and Ojeda.  Both players were crucial to the team and made sure they were not limited in the Round of 32, again.

The score line does not tell the whole story, though.  It was not a completely dominant performance, for Westchester competed well.  The third division side kept the Pigeons on their toes, and obviously scored a couple of goals.  Plus, the early part of the fixture made fans nervous, especially when the score was 1-1.  Still, the Bronx side was overall the stronger team, which is why they won.

Fans can be happy that the Boys in Blue finally won again in the U.S. Open Cup.  So, here are three things we learned from NYCFC’s match with Westchester.

NYCFC had some firsts during the game

During the match, multiple younger players, including Homegrown ones and those from NYCFC II, earned minutes with the first team.  As such, this gave NYCFC an opportunity to have some firsts during the 90 minutes of play.

Farnós, after making his debut in Major League Soccer over the weekend, made his first start with the first team.  And of course, he scored his first goal as well, which was a powerful shot into the upper-right side of the back of the net.

Meanwhile, Kevin Pierre and Kamran Acito made their debuts with NYCFC, too.  Pierre started the match.

It was good to see a great performance with many of the younger players getting the call to start or even come off the bench.  Ideally, fans will see more of this, for that will mean that Head Coach Pascal Jansen’s depth is strong enough and that there will be games where NYCFC is winning well enough to bring on the players.

Stop complaining about NYCFC’s stadium

Westchester SC has a nice home ground to play at Mount Vernon Memorial Field.  However, after watching this matchup, people really should not complain about NYCFC playing in a baseball stadium.  And, the reason is simple: the Pigeons do not have multiple lines for multiple sports on the ground.

If one missed the fixture, then it is important to know that Westchester plays in a multipurpose stadium.  Sadly, that meant that football, lacrosse, soccer, and possibly more lines and markings were on the pitch.  Fans could see where the lacrosse goals go and the different boundaries for the different sports.  It was a little confusing to look at, even with the different colors.

Hence, NYCFC’s pitch at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field might be smaller than average, but at least it looks like a pitch.

Positive signs for Talles Magno

Not many probably would have thought that Magno would return to NYCFC after his loan deal ended.  However, he is with the team and has been a part of the roster.  He still has some work to do to properly compete with some of the starters.  However, he was amazing in his start against Westchester.  This performance and the goals are a positive sign that the Brazilian is continuing to improve.

Some might argue that he played against a USL League One team.  Yet, Westchester fought until the end.  Hence, the hat-trick hero deserves his flowers for the role that he played in the win.  Scoring three times in any game, no matter the opponent, is a challenge.

It was not just his goals; Magno was everywhere on the pitch.  Sometimes he was the attacking midfielder, sometimes he was the left-winger, and sometimes he was drifting to the right or up front and center.  The argument that he should not be a starting striker for NYCFC remains true, but there was never an issue if the winger was allowed to roam.  Perhaps Jansen should consider this in one of the next MLS games.