Cufre equalizer gives NYCFC 1-1 draw with Charlotte FC
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
A late equalizer from Braian Cufre rescued the point for New York City FC, who finished level at 1-1 against Charlotte FC at Citi Field. The match extends New York City’s unbeaten streak to seven matches.
New York City created most of the opportunities in the match, outshooting Charlotte 21-3 on total shots and 5-2 on shots on goal. New York City also had most of the ball with 58.1 percent of the possession.
Talles Magno got the first opportunity of the match in the 10th minute, getting on the end of a ball from Richy Ledezma to fire a shot at Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina. Two minutes later, Ledezma found Magno again off a corner kick, but the header was stopped by Kahlina again.
Charlotte took the lead against the run of play in the 17th minute. The chance came off a Justin Haak clearance that was intercepted at the edge of the area, and McKinzie Gaines beat NYCFC goalkeeper Luis Barraza from distance to put Charlotte up 1-0.
Magno got another look at goal in the third minute of first half stoppage time, but Kahlina was there again to deny him.
Out of the halftime break, New York City continued to pressure the Charlotte back line. In the 61st minute, Braian Cufre sent in a ball from the right flank to find Matias Pellegrini - but the shot was too high.
NYCFC went to the bench in the 63rd minute, with manager Nick Cushing replacing Magno with Gabriel Pereira. In the 65th minute, Pereira got on the end of a setup from Keaton Parks and nearly leveled the match, hitting the right post with a powerful shot from inside the area.
The breakthrough came for New York City in the 81st minute. Parks got the ball 35 yards out from goal and found Cufre with space on the left side, and Cufre beat Kahlina on a shot from the left side to level the match at 1-1.
New York City had chances to take the lead after Cufre’s goal, with the best one coming off a free kcik from the left side of the penalty area in the third minute of stoppage time. Pereira stepped up to take the free kick, but he couldn’t hit the target.
With the draw, New York City now face another quick turnaround, with a road trip to Columbus looming on Saturday night. The last time NYCFC played the Crew, Gabe Segal scored in the 90th minute to get a 1-1 draw at Yankee Stadium.