Prolific second half pushes New York City FC to 3-1 win over Chicago Fire
Courtesy: New York City FC
By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC is now unbeaten in three straight matches after defeating the Chicago Fire 3-1 at Yankee Stadium this afternoon. Three different players found the back of the net for New York City, with Mounsef Bakrar, Hannes Wolf and Alonso Martinez all scoring in the win.
Here are three observations from New York City’s 3-1 victory.
Prolific chance creation doesn’t lead to first half goal
From the opening whistle this afternoon, New York City controlled most of the possession - and did a good job of turning that possession into scoring chances. Alonso Martinez had four chances in the first half alone, including a clear look at goal from 12 yards out that he fired off the crossbar in the 24th minute.
New York City went into the halftime break having created a total of 15 shots - but only three of those 15 shots ended up hitting the target and threatening goalkeeper Chris Brady.
Fire strike first on the counter
While New York City controlled the flow of the match, it only took one chance for the Fire to capitalize. After a New York City corner kick, Chicago quickly pushed forward on the counterattack. Jonathan Dean laid it off at the edge of the area for Philip Zinckernagel, who fired a low, powerful shot into the lower left corner to beat Matt Freese and give Chicago the 1-0 lead against the run of play.
City break through with second half goals
New York City’s breakthrough came in the 55th minute. Justin Haak received the ball on the left side of the penalty area and squared it to Mounsef Bakrar, who tapped it in to level the match at 1-1. It was Bakrar’s first goal for New York City since a 1-1 draw against the Columbus Crew on Aug. 31, 2024.
“There's one moment that made it very, very clear what our determination was about in the second half, and that is the moment with Mounsef Bakrar, because coming on as a second striker, and doing the dirty labor that he did, trying to prevent them from scoring in the moment he intercepted in a box - that shows everything that we were about in the second half,” Jansen said.
15 minutes later, New York City struck again - this time on the counterattack. After thwarting a Fire attack in the final third, New York City sent numbers forward quickly. Hannes Wolf collected the ball at the edge of the area and navigated through traffic before scoring on a powerful turnaround shot inside the right post.
After a second Fire red card for Dje Tah D’Avilla in the 84th minute, Martinez stepped up to the spot and found the upper left corner to put New York City ahead 3-1 in the 88th minute for his eighth goal of the season.
Next Up
New York City have a quick turnaround before returning to Yankee Stadium for a Wednesday night match against the Houston Dynamo. 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.