New York City FC come back to earn 3-1 road win over Chicago Fire
By Chris Tsakonas
After conceding early, New York City FC scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Chicago Fire 3-1 at Soldier Field tonight. Nico Fernandez Mercau, Alonso Martinez and Seymour Reid all found the back of the net in the win.
Chicago capitalizes on slow start
From the opening whistle, New York City struggled to do much more than win the possession battle.
Through the opening 10 minutes, Chicago recorded the only shot of the match on a quick turnaround shot from Hugo Cuypers that was easily saved by Matt Freese.
In the 13th minute, Tayvon Gray gave the ball away to Brian Gutierrez, who played a through ball to the right side of the box. Phillip Zinckernagel got on the end of the pass and slotted it past Matt Freese to open the scoring for the Fire.
New York City struggled to respond initially, creating only one shot in the opening 35 minutes of play.
New York City cap off late first half rally with equalizer
Towards the end of the first half, New York City began to turn the corner. In the 40th minute, Hannes Wolf led the attack by playing the ball in space to find Kevin O’Toole on the left flank. O’Toole would deliver a low ball across the six to set up Nico Fernandez Mercau for his first goal in a New York City uniform.
That capped off a late flurry of activity for New York City, who created three shots inside the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Second half breakthrough
In the 57th minute, New York City broke through again. After New York City drew a corner kick at the right flag, Maxi Moralez stepped up to take it. Moralez’s looping cross was nodded down by Raul Gustavo to set up a one-time finish from Martinez to make it 2-1 for his 15th goal of the season.
With a 2-1 lead deep into stoppage time, New York City had one more goal left in the tank. After a Chicago clearance was intercepted by Agustin Ojeda, the ball was played across the box for Reid to score his first professional goal. At 17 years old, the goal made Reid the youngest goalscorer in club history.
“He’s been working hard to get this moment. He had a few subs earlier in the season, did a very good job then, and now the first touch, the communication and the moment with [Ojeda] was spectacular, and keeping his calm and composure to finish off his first goal in the MLS. [I’m] very proud of the kid.”
Next Up
New York City will have a short turnaround before returning to the Bronx to host the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night. Live radio commentary with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 7:15 p.m. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio and the Apple TV Home Radio feature.