New York City FC picked up their best win of their season to kick off a congested three-match week that includes a return to the US Open Cup plus a potential MLS trap game against lowly CF Montréal at Yankee Stadium.

Episode 37 starts with a deep dive into New York City's somewhat surprising yet undeniably impressive 1-0 win over a streaking FC Cincinnati team at Citi Field. We discuss some parts of the tactical chess game that played out between coaches, including Pascal Jansen making changes to his NYCFC's formation to open the match.

There's also lots to say about the early-game loss of Keaton Parks to another foot problem, as well as the goalscorer and lightning rod for both praise and criticism, Julián Fernández. Is Julián on the cusp of finally breaking out, or will he go back to being a maddeningly inconsistent hot-and-cold attacker?

With seemingly every angle of the Cincinnati match covered, we move on to talking US Open Cup and a first-ever match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The million-dollar questions, as they usually are when NYCFC enters the Open Cup: How seriously will the team take the tournament, and how many regular fixtures in Jansen's Starting XI will we see on the pitch in Pittsburgh?

NYCFC will be the favorites in Pittsburgh and they'll definitely be favored to win when MLS play resumes over the weekend and Montréal visits the Bronx on Matchday 12. With one win over an elite Cincinnati team already in the bank, we look ahead to these two matches against lower-division Pittsburgh and struggling Montréal and wonder if this simply has to be a "three matches played, three matches won" week for New York City.

Episode 37 has all our thoughts and opinions on Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Montréal and more, so listen to the full episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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