New York City FC avoid the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a win over New England Revolution on Saturday night at Yankee Stadium thanks to a first-time MLS goal from Agustin Ojeda. The second half goal came after the team dominated the first half but missed key opportunities. It was the same old story for City but their defense held firm and managed to find the winner when they needed it most.
The first half saw a NYC team that pressed well and found striker Mounsef Bakrar in dangerous positions. Unfortunately for the beleaguered striker his chances on net did not have the bite needed to put the team ahead early. As the half wore on, City found other outlets from Santiago Rodriguez but efforts all seemed to either go wide or were stopped by the New England goalkeeper.
City almost got a significant boost before the half when a foul from Ian Harkes was initially given a red card by the referee. After a review it was downgraded to a yellow, keeping him on the field and leaving the Revolution with hope heading into the second half.
Much of the same strategy continued in the second half with Nick Cushing’s men pressing the action. Eventually the team found the opening goal in the 57th minute when midfielder Hannes Wolf fed a pass to Ojeda outside the box for a blast of an effort that pierced the back of the net. From there the efforts continued and City were able to find their second goal off the foot of Julian Fernandez in stoppage time..
The win temporarily moves City to 12th place in the standings, just two points out of the last playoff spot in the East. Next week the team remains at Yankee Stadium and will welcome DC United to the Bronx.
STARTING XI:
New York City FC: Freese; Ilenic, Martins, Risa, O’Toole, Sands, Parks, Wolf (63′ Fernandez), Ojeda (63′ Jones), Rodriguez, Bakrar (83′ Martinez)
New England Revolution: Ravas; Lima (81′ Farrell), Romney, Kessler, Jones (26′ Spaulding), Polster, Harkes (81′ McNamara), N. Gil (62′ Bajraktarevic), C. Gil, Chancalay, Vironi
SCORING SUMMARY:
57′ (NYCFC) Agustin Ojeda (1) assisted by Hannes Wolf
90′ (NYCFC) Julian Fernandez (1) assisted by Kevin O’Toole
DISCIPLINE:
22′ (New England Revolution) Tomas Chancalay – YELLOW CARD
43′ (New England Revolution) Ian Harkes – YELLOW CARD
45′ (NYCFC) Matt Freese – YELLOW CARD
77′ (New England Revolution) Henry Kessler – YELLOW CARD
78′ (NYCFC) Keaton Parks – YELLOW CARD