NYCFC midfielder Alfredo Morales (7) heads the ball for a goal past Santos de Guapiles defender Everardo Rubio (21). (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

Quite frankly, New York City FC could not have asked for a better result in its Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 second leg on Wednesday night.

Not only did the Citizens win the series, 6-0 they scored early enough to allow head coach Ronny Deila sub out players in the second half so they could be rested for Sunday’s MLS season opener.

Alfredo Morales and Maxime Chanot scored in the opening half and Magno Talles added a second-half brace for NYCFC, which cruised to a  4-0 victory over Santos de Guapiles in a match played at a virtually empty Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson, who was rarely tested, recorded his second successive clean sheet of the competition.

“What we achieved as a football team is something great,” Chanot said. “Now we’re looking forward to play the next round in the Concacaf Champions League.”

Santos  played the final six minutes of the match and stoppage time with 10 men after Alvin Bennett was red carded in the 84th minute.

NYCFC had won the opening leg last week in San Jose, Costa Rica, 2-0. The result also gave City two consecutive series wins against Ticos sides in competition, having bested San Carlos in 2020.

The defending MLS Cup champions will meet the LA Galaxy in nearby Carson, Calif. on Sunday.

The first leg of the CCL quarterfinals will be played the week of March 8.

By the hour, Deila had pulled four starters.

At halftime, Vuk Latinovich replaced Alex Callens at center back. Then came three substitutions in the 57th and 58th minutes as Keaton Parks, Heber and Andres Jasson come on for Maxi Moralez, Morales and Tayvon Gray, respectively.

Deila’s final sub came in the 73rd minute when Chris Gloster came in for defender Malte Amundsen.

“That’s what we wanted, to have a good lead into the break so we can give a Callens a break,” Deila said. “He had a lot of games last year so that was good. And also you get players who deserve to get more time on a pitch. … The players that came on must do a good job.”

Deila also gave some props to Magno.

“He is a talented boy. Everybody knows that,” he said. “You always use some time to get going and to adapt to a new team and new style of play and everything. I think he is ready now to really be important for this season. I think in Thiago, both of them are really good today and started to understand the way we wanted.”

The hosts dominated the opening half, rarely giving Santos a chance to breath on attack.

On the other end of the pitch, however, NYCFC had several close encounters in the early going.

Three minutes in, Taty Castellanos, who tallied twice in the first leg, sent a 15-yard shot wide left. Two minutes later, Talles Magno’s attempt from 10 yards sailed over the crossbar. Thiago went wide left in the 15th minute and a Morales’ header from six yards sailed over the crossbar.

City finally hit pay dirt within a four-minute span in the opening half. Morales headed home a Moralez corner kick from the right side of the six-yard box past goalkeeper Kevin Ruiz for a 1-0 lead.

After Ruiz made a two-handed parry of Castellanos’ shot, NYCFC doubled its margin in off another corner. This time Chanot tallied his first goal for the club since 2020 for a two-goal advantage and four-goal aggregate lead.

Denilson Mason came close to slicing the lead in half for the visitors when he smashed a shot from distance off the left post in the 52nd minute.

In the 80th minute, Magno slipped in a Thiago Andrade feed from the left side to give NYCFC a 3-0 lead. Magno added his second goal in the 86th minute for the final goal.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.