Comeback effort drives New York City FC to 2-1 win over New England
Courtesy: New York City FC on X
By Chris Tsakonas
NEW YORK - New York City FC earned its second straight win after erasing an early deficit to beat the New England Revolution 2-1 at Yankee Stadium tonight. Julian Fernandez scored the equalizer in the 38th minute, while Alonso Martinez netted the match-winner in the 68th minute.
Here are three observations from New York City’s second win of the season.
Slow start, own goal put New York City into an early hole
After a sluggish start where both sides recorded just one shot through the opening 24 minutes, New England capitalized on a miscue at the back. In the 25th minute, Brandon Bye delivered a cross from the right side that fell to Thiago Martins - and deflected off of his shin and into the back of the net.
The goal ended a 295-minute New England scoring drought - and it put New York City on the back foot midway through the first half.
Wolf and Fernandez strike back on the counter
12 minutes later, New York City would find redemption off the counterattack. After taking possession at midfield, Hannes Wolf led the charge with several options making runs along the flanks. Wolf ultimately played a through ball to Fernandez, who slotted it past Ivacic to level the match in the 38th minute.
The goal was Fernandez’s first for New York City since April 20 of last season, and it ended up as a pivotal turning point late in the first half.
Martinez leads second-half breakthrough
After a sluggish start from both sides in the second half, New York City consistently threatened New England in the final third. New York City turned that pressure into a match-winning goal in the 68th minute when a point-blank shot from Parks was saved by Ivacic - only to fall to Alonso Martinez for the match-winning goal.
“I'm happy with the win because I told my guys also [that] there will be phases like this in games that we have to fight and stay together and try to grind and make sure that we get the job done, and that's what they did today,” Jansen said.
Next Match
New York City will return to the road next Saturday to take on the Columbus Crew at 7:30 P.M. Live radio coverage will get underway at 7:15 P.M., with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence providing radio coverage from Lower.com Field.