New York City FC entered Chicago needing points in order to keep their playoff hopes alive but two mistakes in the second half leave them with a loss at Soldier Field, 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. City played the entire second half up a man after a red card before the halftime whistle. However, Gregg Beralter’s men were more committed and controlled the remainder of the game in order to win and put City’s playoff hopes in question as the season draws closer to an end.
NYCFC pushed the game early, with Chicago having issues controlling the game in the first 20 minutes. The returning Alonso Martinez looked dangerous, forcing errors from the defense and nearly scoring his first goal since returning from injury. All of that control disappeared as Chicago compused themselves and were able to gain a foothold in the game.
Despite that control, NYC was able to take the lead in the 19th minute as Hannes Wolf beat goalkeeper Chris Brady after a pass from Agustin Ojeda. Chicago continued to self destruct as midfielder Dje D’Avilla took his second yellow card in the 43rd minute, placing the Fire in a precarious situation heading into the second half.
Expectations were that City could control the remainder of the game, given the lead and their advantage in personnel. However, it was Chicago who pushed the game and kept NYC on the defensive for much of the second half. Anton Seletros found the equalizer in the 55th minute and continued to push on from there. City found momentary sprints but were unable to handle a short-handed Fire team that looked more composed and motivated.
The game-winning effort came in the 87th minute when City goalkeeper Matt Freese made an passing error to the feet of Maren Haile-Selassie in front of goal. The Swiss forward converted on the unforced error, giving Chicago the lead and putting NYC in a precarious situation in the Eastern Conference standings.
City’s inability to respond leaves many questions as to whether or not they’ll be able to hold onto their playoff positioning but also whether or not head coach Pascal Jansen can avoid a playoff miss for their second season in three years. NYC will have a quick turnaround as they travel to Miami on Wednesday to play Inter Miami. Their playoff hopes may be in the balance as the club has only won once in the last 10 games.
STARTING XI:
New York City FC: Freese; Gray, Martins, Sands (76′ Shore), Cavallo (46′ O’Toole), O’Neill, Fernandez, Perea (60′ Gustavo), Ojeda (75′ Traore), Martinez (60′ Luighi), Wolf (82′ Jones)
Chicago Fire FC: Brady; Dean, Elliott, Mbokazi, Barraso (71′ Allen), Saletros, D’Avilla, Haile-Selassie (90′ Hanche-Olsen), Zinkernagel (71′ Dithejane), Lewandowski (71′ Gomez), Bamba (46′ Pineda)
SCORING SUMMARY:
19′ (New York City FC) Hannes Wolf (5) assisted by Agustin Ojeda & Alonso Martinez
55′ (Chicago Fire FC) Anton Saletros (1) assisted by Maren Haile-Selassie & Robert Lewendowski
87′ (Chicago Fire FC) Maren Haile-Selassie (9) unassisted
DISCIPLINE:
20′ (Chicago Fire FC) Dje D’Avilla – YELLOW CARD
43′ (Chicago Fire FC) Dje D’Avilla – RED CARD
63′ (Chicago Fire FC) Mbekezeli Mbokazi – YELLOW CARD
90′ (Chicago Fire FC) Mauricio Pineda – YELLOW CARD
photo from NYCFC