Alonso Martinez brace leads New York City FC to 2-0 win over CF Montreal
Courtesy: New York City FC
By Chris Tsakonas
NEW YORK - A brace from Alonso Martinez was enough for New York City to get a second win in six days with a 2-0 win over CF Montreal at Citi Field tonight. Martinez opened the scoring in the ninth minute before going on to double the lead with a second goal in the 56th minute.
Here are three observations from New York City’s latest home win.
Martinez strikes early for New York City
New York City controlled the run of play from the opening whistle, holding 57 percent of the possession and generating several attacks through the opening nine minutes of the match.
In the ninth minute, New York City opened the scoring when a through ball from Hannes Wolf found Martinez in the box. The goal was initially ruled offside, but the call was overturned after a two-minute VAR review from Marcos De Olivera and VAR assistant Fotis Bazakos.
“I said before we're looking for a number nine who is going to put numbers up and be consistent. The one thing I love with Martinez is he's super clinical - if he gets chances, he scores,” head coach Nick Cushing said after the match.
Tonight’s brace gives Martinez eight goals on the year - tying him with Santi Rodriguez for the team lead in 2024.
Martinez’s first goal also continues a trend of strong starts for New York City, who have scored five goals inside the first 15 minutes this season.
Hannes Wolf drives playmaking for New York City
After setting up Martinez for the opening goal, Wolf became the facilitator again in the second half when he got on the end of a ball from James Sands at the edge of the box and flicked it ahead for Martinez to score again and make it 2-0 in the 55th minute.
It was Wolf’s second two-assist match of the season, as he previously set up two goals in New York City’s 3-2 road win over Toronto FC on May 11. Wolf now has six assists on the season, which puts him one away from Rodriguez for the team lead through 21 matches in 2024.
Matt Freese keeps another clean sheet
On the defensive side, goalkeeper Matt Freese delivered three saves for his fourth clean sheet of the season. Freese’s first stop came in the 19th minute, as he denied a shot from Kwadwo Opoku from the middle of the box. That ended up being the highest-percentage (0.19 expected goal value) save of the night for Freese, who picked up two more saves against Sunisi Ibrahim in the second minute of first half stoppage time and Raheem Edwards in the 69th minute.
“I think when you have a goalkeeper like Matt Freese that is performing at a really high level, he deserves clean sheets,” Cushing said.
“[I'm] really pleased tonight to get clean sheets and have not given a lot of goal chances away.”
Next Up
It’s another quick turnaround for New York City, who will head to Texas for a Saturday night matchup against Austin FC. Live radio commentary will begin at 8:15 P.M. with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence on the call, which can be heard at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.