NYCFC look to replicate successful formula in Game 2 vs. Charlotte FC

New York City FC defender Tayvon Gray wasn’t particularly keen on giving up the club’s secret to their success on defense vs. Charlotte FC.

“Do I want to elaborate, though, is the question,” Gray told The Post with a grin at the club’s practice facility in Rockland County.

Up 1-0 in the best-of-three series with Charlotte FC, whatever NYCFC have been doing defensively has been working, considering the way they managed to stifle their first-round opponents’ offense during Game 1.

During the first half of their 1-0 victory on Tuesday, NYCFC limited Charlotte to just three total shots — only one of which was on target — and didn’t register a single big chance through the first 45 minutes.

Charlotte had an expected goals (xG) of just 0.12 in the first half. And while Charlotte managed to apply some pressure on in the second half, Tuesday’s win marked the second consecutive match that NYCFC had shut them out.

“I felt like our strategy, what we did against them, I think it worked,” Gray said. “I thought me and Kevin [O’Toole] high [on the pitch] gave them some trouble, for sure. I think we’re going to add a few more ideas to the toolbox during these couple of days, but ultimately I think our strategy worked.”

What helped NYCFC, as well, was the absence of Charlotte’s Wilfried Zaha, who missed Tuesday’s match because of a suspension. The former Crystal Palace forward will be back on the pitch and is eager to make an impact.

He had scored in three consecutive matches to end the regular season, and his 10 goals this season are tied for second most on the Charlotte roster.

NYCFC head coach Pascal Jansen said his squad was “aware” of Zaha’s “qualities,” but that it wasn’t impacting the club’s preparations.

“We just have to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses he brings with him,” Jansen said. “We played him in game one and game two during the regular season. Wilfried is an important player for Charlotte; that’s something that we’re aware of. Him coming back to the team will have an impact, of course, and we’ll have our plan ready again going into Game 2.”

Saturday’s match will be the first playoff contest the club has hosted at Yankee Stadium since 2021 — the year NYCFC captured its first MLS title — and will provide a chance for City to punch its ticket to the second round, where it would play the winner of the Philadelphia-Chicago series.

One could imagine an extra layer of pressure facing New York City FC playing at home — where they’ve won 11 times this year — considering what’s at stake in front of an anticipated rowdy crowd. Midfielder Aiden O’Neill didn’t seem bothered by it, calling it “part of the enjoyment” of soccer, and Gray embraced the idea of added pressure.

“I think there’s always pressure. I think pressure is not so much a bad thing, I think it’s a good thing,” he explained. “I think it just shows how seriously you’re taking it. We really want to go far in this. … I think if there’s no pressure, then you’re not doing something right.”

Through the first game of the series, things have been physical between the two sides, with a scrum breaking out briefly in the 90th minute after O’ Toole shoved Charlotte’s Ashley Westwood in the back.

Jansen said that part of the team’s strategy from not letting any carry over from Game 1 into Game 2 was keeping a “blue head.”

Jansen said that part of the team’s strategy for not letting any carry over from Game 1 into Game 2 was keeping calm in those physical situations, or as the NYCFC coach dubbed it, keeping a “blue head.”