New York City FC score a major win over Nashville SC on Sunday night, moving themselves back into a playoff position and pushing rivals New York Red bulls back underneath the line. A second half goal from none other than Alonso Martinez was the decider as City’s defense and pressure proved to be more than enough to counter the third best team in the Eastern Conference.
It wasn’t easy for City at the start. The club found themselves on the back foot with Nashville pressuring for an early goal. They found it in the 10th minute when Jacob Shaffelburg took his effort near the center of the box to open the scoring. From that point forward, NYC flipped the narrative with control in possession and chances. Attempts by Maxi Moralez and Hannes Wolf were made with little success. It wasn’t until the 40th minute when Andres Perea scored with a right-footed attempt to equalize the contest.
A significant delay followed as poor weather forced fans and players to seek shelter. After more than an hour, the clubs resumed play with much of the same as what was seen before the stoppage. City entered the second half with all of the momentum as they hunted down the game-winner.
The second half saw both teams negate each other in the midfield for the most part. Tempers flared as fouls grew more frequent. Moralez and Edvard Tagseth were booked while Sam Surridge and Alonso Martinez followed later in the half. NYC’s leading scorer Martinez found the goal to take all three points in the 77th minute as he knocked a goal into the net following a pass into the box from Agustin Ojeda.
NYC held on from there as Nashville searched in vain for the equalizer. The win moves them back into eighth place, three points ahead of Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls. The team will follow up this performance with a trip to Cincinnati next week, another tough test late in the 2025 season.
STARTING XI:
New York City FC: Freese; Gray, Haak, Tanasijevic, O’Toole, Moralez (78′ J. Fernandez), O’Neill, Perea, N. Fernandez, Martinez (90′ Reid), Wolf (64′ Ojeda)
Nashville SC: Willis; Bauer, Maher (80′ Zimmerman), Palacios, Najar, Mukhtar, Yazbek, Tagseth (73′ Brugman), Perez (68′ Qasem), Surridge, Shaffelburg (80′ Bunbury)
SCORING SUMMARY:
10′ (Nashville SC) Jacob Shaffelburg (2) assisted by Hany Mukhtar
40′ (New York City FC) Andres Perea (2) assisted by Hannes Wolf
77′ (New York City FC) Alonso Martinez (12) assisted by Agustin Ojeda
DISCIPLINE:
48′ (Nashville SC) Edvard Tagseth – YELLOW CARD
58′ (New York City FC) Maxi Moralez – YELLOW CARD
82′ (Nashville SC) Sam Surridge – YELLOW CARD
82′ (New York City FC) Alonso Martinez – YELLOW CARD
90′ (New York City FC) Andres Perea – YELLOW CARD
photo from NYCFC