Two late goals cost New York City FC in 2-2 draw against Chicago Fire
By Chris Tsakonas
After going up 2-0 in the first half, New York City FC conceded two late goals to drop points at home in a 2-2 draw to the Chicago Fire in front of 24,428 supporters at Citi Field tonight. Alonso Martinez scored both goals for New York City in the first half, while Hugo Cuypers pulled one back in the 78th minute and Brian Gutierrez scored the equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Here are three observations from New York City’s return to league play.
Late goals cost New York City
While New York City controlled most of the match, the Fire got a lifeline back into the match in the 78th minute when Hugo Cuypers found the back of the net with a powerful shot from the right corner of the penalty area.
The pivotal moment came in the third minute of stoppage time, when the ball was played off of Tayvon Gray’s hand just inside the penalty area. Referee Malik Badawi pointed to the penalty spot, and Brian Gutierrez scored from the spot to turn a win into a draw.
“In the end, we should see the game out - no excuse. We should see the game out,” New York City manager Nick Cushing said after the match.
Alonso Martinez takes over with early start
After scoring the fastest goal in New York City club history in the opening 16 seconds against the Columbus Crew last Saturday, Martinez played an early role in the attack again tonight. Martinez’s first look at goal was a header off a corner kick that was saved by Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady in the 3rd minute, but he followed up on that effort by opening the scoring in the 15th minute with a long-range strike from outside the penalty area.
Seven minutes later, Martinez got on the end of a loose ball that was kicked into the middle by Keaton Parks, and he fired it into the top corner to double New York City’s lead in the 23rd minute.
With the brace, Martinez now has 11 goals in 23 matches across all competitions - trailing Santi Rodriguez for the team scoring lead this season.
New York City controls run of play
In addition to leading for most of the match, New York City also controlled much of the run of play - finishing with 58 percent of the possession and a 12-9 edge in total shots.
New York City limited Chicago from doing much in the attack in the first half. While the Fire had six total shots in the opening 45 minutes, the only shot on goal during that stretch came off of a close-range shot from Allan Arigoni on the right side that was saved by Matt Freese in the 33rd minute. New York City outshot Chicago 6-3 in the second half - with two of those three Chicago shots finding the back of the net.
“I thought we played well again tonight in the sense of possession, of how we progress the ball [and] the style. When you look at both teams, we play the style everybody wants to come watch, and we're attacking and we're creating chances,” Cushing said. “We got one point, so all of that doesn’t really matter when you can’t execute in both boxes.”
Next Up
New York City FC will head back on the road next Saturday to take on the Columbus Crew. It’s the second time this month that New York City will play Columbus at Lower.com Field after being eliminated 4-3 on penalties by the Crew after finishing regulation 1-1 in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals last Saturday. Radio coverage will get underway at 7:15 P.M. with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence providing live commentary at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.