New York City FC escape Kinetic Field on Sunday with a 1-0 win in a game that took all the way to the final kick of stoppage time to decide the contest. Midfielder Cooper Flax was the hero as City II had to play over 15 minutes down a man in the second half.
The game was defined by the physicality with four players receiving a yellow card in the first half alone. Many of the efforts on goals from both teams either missed the mark or were blocked. City’s best opportunity to open the scoring came just before the half time whistle when Joseph Suchecki blasted a shot from outside of the box, forcing the Union II keeper Pierce Holbrook into a jumping save.
They physicality continued in the second half with an additional four cards being handed out. Sebastiano Musu received his second in the 73rd minute, leaving NYC to battle the rest of the contest short-handed. Philadelphia pushed on late in the contest, looking for the winner but were upset in the 99th minute by Flax’s screamer from a free kick that beat Holbrook.
City II started the season poorly but have rebounded with three wins in their last. four games. Wins over rivals Red Bull New York II and now Philadelphia Union II might be the boost the club has needed to push into a playoff position. Currently in 12th place, the team’s record has improved to 5-5-2 with a busy week against Carolina Core and Chattanooga on the schedule in the next seven days.
STARTING XI:
New York City FC II: Klein; Campos, Loiola Santos, Acito, Smith (70′ Lopez), Flax, Suchecki, Ponce, Musu, Kerr (70′ Duque)(90′ De Souza), Samb (90′ Hvatum)
Philadelphia Union II: Holbrook; Pratt (46′ Harrington), Uzcategui, Craig, Griffin, LeBlanc (64′ Hasan), Benitez, De Paula, Ferreira (88′ Reed), Davis, Jakupovic (69′ Olivas)
SCORING SUMMARY:
90′ (New York City FC II) Cooper Flax (1) unassisted
DISCIPLINE:
8′ (Philadelphia Union II) Matheus De Paula – YELLOW CARD
15′ (New York City FC II) Joao Loiola Santos – YELLOW CARD
20′ (New York City FC II) Sebastiano Musu – YELLOW CARD
45′ (New York City FC II) Kieran Smith – YELLOW CARD
73′ (New York City FC II) Sebastiano Musu – RED CARD
79′ (New York City FC II) Cooper Flax – YELLOW CARD
87′ (New York City FC II) Jonathan Lopez -YELLOW CARD
photo from NYCFC II