New York City FC score two late goals in 2-1 win over Orlando City SC
Coutresy: New York City FC on X
By Chris Tsakonas
New York City scored two goals in the final five minutes of the match to earn a 2-1 comeback win against Orlando City at Inter&Co Stadium tonight. New York City equalized off an own goal from Kyle Smith in the 87th minute, while Alonso Martinez scored the match-winner in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
Here are three observations from the match.
Orlando dominates first half run of play
While New York City opened the match by controlling most of the possession, Orlando City ended up creating all of the early chances with seven shots inside the opening half hour. One of those chances was a particularly close call in the 26th minute, when Marko Pasalic curled a shot through traffic that came just inches of beating Matt Freese inside the lower right post.
New York City created little on the other end to counter this Orlando pressure, with the first shot not coming until a long-range effort from Alonso Martinez was blocked in the 34th minute. By the halftime whistle, Orlando City outshot New York City by a 14-3 margin.
New York City resistance breaks on corner kick
Despite the early and frequent pressure from Orlando City, New York City’s back line held the clean sheet - until the 36th minute.
Orlando City won a corner kick, and the initial delivery from Martin Ojeda was nodded down by Pasalic. Robin Janssen chested it down at the edge of the six and beat Matt Freese from close range to take the 1-0 lead.
New York City flips the script in final minutes
After creating just three total shots throughout the first half, New York City began to ramp up the pressure in a late push for an equalizer. The New York City attack created eight goals in a span of 40 minutes in the lead-up to the tying goal, with the best chance coming in the 63rd minute off a Martinez shot that hit the post with a wide open net.
In the 87th minute, New York City finally broke thorough. It started off a corner kick from Julian Fernandez, which found Andres Perea for a shot that was stopped by goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. The ensuing clearance from Rodrigo Schlegel was deflected into the net by Kyle Smith, and New York City equalized against the run of play.
Just four minutes later, Fernandez played the setup role again with a long through ball to set up a one-on-one for Martinez. Gallese came out of his goal, and Martinez slotted the ball inside the corner to win the match. It was Martinez’s first goal in six MLS matches.
“He's a number nine. He lives off his goals, and like you saw today, he missed a huge opportunity,” head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match. “We kept him in the game, and I told the guys in the dressing room just now as well, as long as we have his back, he'll be okay and get back to his normal level - and today he got that goal, which gave us the win in the end,”
Next Up
New York City FC will have just two days off before heading west to take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night. Live radio commentary with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 8:15 P.M. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.