New York City FC needed late heroics to overcome a two-goal deficit inflicted in the first half to take a share of points against Nashville SC on Saturday afternoon. The club traveled to Geodis Park but were ill prepared in the first half, forcing head coach Pascal Jansen to make necessary changes in order to salvage the game.
Nashville began their attack quickly in the first half, nearly scoring on a header from a returning Walker Zimmerman in the 19th minute. The pressure continued with City getting only one major chance in the 24th minute when a pass over the defense found a running Alonso Martinez. The effort was stopped by Willis, keeping the game scoreless.
The game’s deadlock was ended in the 27th minute when Matthew Corcoran played a ball over the top to former MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar. The German international laid the ball off in the box to Sam Surridge who beat goalkeeper Matt Freese to open the score. The lead was doubled before the half when Surridge again found the back of the net when Alex Muyl found the team’s leading scorer in the box for a simple goal.
The second half saw major change for NYC who brought on Keaton Parks in order to stimulate the midfield. The move paid off in the 54th minute when a passing sequence between club legend Maxi Moralez and Parks opened up Wolf to beat the Nashville keeper and cut the lead in half. City continued to push with Martinez hitting the side netting just minutes after scoring the their first goal. Birk Risa also hit the crossbar on a free kick, frustrating NYC as they sought the equalizer.
More changes were made late in the game but it was Parks who found Wolf again in the 87th minute. A corner kick created chaos in front of goal as Parks headed a ball towards goal with Wolf finishing off the effort.
The comeback salvages the week where NYC only took one point from two games. A loss at home to Houston was punctuated by a dismal first half in Nashville. However, the team rebounded and showed their resilience in order to take a point in front of a tough crowd. Currently NYCFC sits in ninth place, just two points above New England Revolution who have games in hand. Next will be a return to Yankee Stadium on June 12th as the club takes on Atlanta United.
STARTING XI:
New York City FC: Freese; Gray (46′ Tanasijevic), Haak, Martins, Risa (67′ Cavallo), O’Neill (46′ Parks), Shore, Moralez (67′ Bakrar), Ojeda (67′ Fernandez), Martinez, Wolf
Nashville SC: Willis; Najar (73′ Bauer), Maher, Zimmerman, Lovitz, Tagseth (46′ Yazbek), Corcoran (80′ Acosta), Muyl, Quasem (61′ Perez), Surridge, Mukhtar (80′ Meyer)
SCORING SUMMARY:
27′ (Nashville SC) Sam Surridge (10) assisted by Hany Mukhtar and Matthew Corcoran
41′ (Nashville SC) Sam Surridge (11) assisted by Alex Muyl and Matthew Corcoran
54′ (NYCFC) Hannes Wolf (5) assisted by Keaton Parks and Maxi Moralez
87′ (NYCFC) Hannes Wolf (6) assisted by Keaton Parks
DISCIPLINE:
40′ (NYCFC) Aiden O’Neill – YELLOW CARD
75′ (NYCFC) Strahinja Tanasijevic – YELLOW CARD
83′ (NYCFC) Keaton Parks – YELLOW CARD
84′ (Nashville SC) Bryan Acosta – YELLOW CARD
photo from NYCFC