By Chris Tsakonas
New York City earned a crucial point in the playoff race with a 2-2 road draw against Orlando City at Inter&Co Stadium tonight. Alonso Martinez and Jonny Shore scored for the Pigeons, while Antoine Griezmann and Martin Ojeda found the back of the net for Orlando City.
Here are three thoughts from tonight’s match.
Strong start pays off for New York City
New York City came into tonight’s match on the outside looking in in the playoff race, and the Pigeons needed a win to get within striking distance of the final play-in spot.
That intensity was apparent from the opening whistle, as the Pigeons regularly threatened in the final third with four shots in the first 15 minutes.
In the 18th minute, New York City got the breakthrough. Hannes Wolf took the ball into the left side of the box and played it across the six-yard box to set up Martinez for the easy tap-in.
It was Martinez’s first goal since tearing his ACL last November, and it gave New York City an early lead on the road.
“Within those 75 minutes [he played], he had four or five possible moments to get himself on the scoreboard with the goal included, so that is the Alonso that we’re looking for,” head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match. “That’s the Alonso we’re hoping for, and now it’s very important to recover and hopefully be able to use him again midweek.”
Orlando City convert twice off crosses
After weathering the early New York City surge into the final third, Orlando began to create dangerous chances on the other end. For the Lions, both goals ultimately started from crosses played into the box.
In the 34th minute, the Lions equalized on the counter. Martin Ojeda got the ball on the right flank as New York City scrambled to get numbers back defensively. Ojeda delivered a cross into the middle of the area and connected with Griezmann for an unmarked header that beat Tomas Romero.
Orlando City would take the lead four minutes into the second half. Vinicius Noguiera played a cross to the far post that was nodded down by Ivan Angulo to set up the finish from Martin Ojeda.
Shore to the rescue
With most of the second half still to play after the Ojeda goal, New York City surged numbers forward to try and get back into the game. Despite the renewed intensity, the Pigeons only mustered two shots in the 30 minutes that followed Ojeda’s goal.
New York City came particularly close on a penalty kick in the 80th minute. Talles Magno’s first chance went in, but it had to be retaken as the referee Elijio Arreguin hadn’t blown his whistle. Magno’s second effort went wide of the left post, keeping New York City in a hole.
In the tenth added minute of stoppage time, the Pigeons finally broke through. James Sands got the ball near the end line and played it back for Shore, who fired a shot into the upper corner to rescue the point for New York City.
Next Up
It’s another quick turnaround for New York City, as the Pigeons will return to Citi Field to host Atlanta United. Atlanta United currently sit at 14th in the East on 30 points after falling 3-2 to the Chicago Fire earlier tonight.
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.
