New York City FC come from behind to beat Nashville SC 2-1

By Chris Tsakonas

New York City FC returned to MLS action on a high note with a 2-1 comeback win against Nashville SC at Yankee Stadium. Andres Perea and Alonso Martinez both scored for New York City in the win.

Here are three observations from tonight’s win.

Nashville hit the ground running
From the opening whistle, Nashville controlled the run of play. Through the opening 10 minutes, Nashville created all three shots in the match while holding 58 percent of the ball.

In the 10th minute, Nashville broke through. Hany Mukhtar sliced a through ball into the area to set up a breakaway chance for Jacob Shaffelburg, who beat Matt Freese to open the scoring early. It was the third time all season that New York City conceded a goal within the first 10 minutes.

Perea catches lightning in a bottle
After creating just two chances in the opening 32 minutes of play, New York City started to find a rhythm in the final third. The turning point seemed to come in the 36th minute, when a long-range effort from Nicolas Fernandez Mercau nearly found the inside of the right post.

The equalizer came in the 40th minute, when Andres Perea navigated through traffic before curling a ball into the back of the net to equalize. It was Perea’s second goal in the last three matches.

Any first-half momentum New York City could’ve developed from that goal was immediately snapped, as a lightning strike seconds later led to an 85-minute weather delay. The first half was quickly finished when play finally resumed, and both sides regrouped with a normal 15-minute halftime break.

Martinez seals the deal
Once the second half kicked off, New York City gained the upper hand. While New York City largely bottled up Nashville defensively, the attack started to flow through Alonso Martinez: Out of New York City’s seven second-half shots, Martinez was responsible for four of them.

The decisive breakthrough came in the 77th minute. Agustin Ojeda took the ball down the right flank before playing a low ball across the six-yard box. Martinez was able to get his foot on the end of the cross to poke it past Joe Willis and into the back of the net.

Next Up
New York City will head back on the road next Saturday to take on FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium. New York City won the first meeting of the season 3-1 at Citi Field in April. 

Live radio commentary with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 7:15 p.m. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.