New York City FC advance with 3-1 playoff win over Charlotte FC
By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC will live to fight another day after a 3-1 win over Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium tonight. Nico Fernandez Mercau scored a brace in the win, with Alonso Martinez also finding the back of the net for his second playoff goal of the year.
Here are three observations from the clinching win.
New York City hold off early Charlotte press
Charlotte entered this match riding the momentum of a penalty shootout win to level the series at Yankee Stadium last weekend. That carried over into the opening 20 minutes of this match, as Charlotte opened up with an aggressive press that largely neutralized New York City.
The press led to an active start for Charlotte’s attack, with six shots in the first 20 minutes. New York City did a good job of limiting the danger, with four blocked shots and one save from Matt Freese during that stretch.
“The first 20 minutes were very, very tough for us, but we got through it, and then once we got through it, we started to control the rhythm [and] control the game,” head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match. “That is a massive, massive achievement playing in this stadium against Charlotte.”
Fernandez Mercau, Martinez lead New York City breakthrough
Although Charlotte controlled much of the run of play in the first half, New York City ended up drawing first blood. In the third minute of first half stoppage time, Nico Fernandez Mercau took the ball 70 yards down the right flank on the counter attack and beat Kahlina to score.
“That moment just before the break is very intense, of course, because they go into the dressing room [and] they have to make up [the goal].”
Five minutes into the second half, New York City doubled the lead on another counter. Maxi Moralez won a 50-50 ball near midfield, and quickly lofted a ball over the top to set up a breakaway for Alonso Martinez to score the would-be match winner.
New York City hold on despite injury, Charlotte rally
A turning point in the match came in the 70th minute, when a midfield collision led to an apparent ankle injury for Andres Perea, who ultimately had to come out of the match.
“It was obviously a tough moment. He’s been such a big part of what we’ve done this year,” Freese said. “I’ve known him for seven years, [and] the amount of growth that he had this year is just amazing. It’s really tough to see, and he was really taking advantage of a great opportunity to get a lot of playing time and be a big part of what we’re doing.”
Once Perea went down, Charlotte regained the upper hand in a late push to keep the series alive.
In the 80th minute, Charlotte pulled one back. Harry Toffolo played a ball into the middle of the box, which Archie Goodwin flicked to the back post to set up a finish from Iklan Toklomati. The goal snapped a stretch of 300 minutes without a Charlotte goal, and it set the stage for a potentially dramatic finish.
With less than two minutes remaining in the 12 minutes of stoppage time, New York City closed out the match with another goal. On another break, Hannes Wolf played a through ball into the left side of the box to set up the second goal of the night from Fernandez Mercau. After a brief VAR check, the goal stood and New York City advanced to the conference semifinals.
Next Up
New York City will head down the Turnpike to take on the Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference Semifinals following the November FIFA international break. The date and kickoff time have yet to be announced.
Live radio commentary from Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway 15 minutes before kickoff at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.