New York City FC had seven days of rest before facing the Chicago Fire at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon — and took full advantage of an early red card shown to Chicago to notch their second straight win.
Despite going behind early, second-half goals from Mounsef Bakrar and Hannes Wolf propelled NYCFC to a second straight victory, ending Chicago's four-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. Alonso Martínez converted a penalty in the 89th minute to seal the 3-1 win, recording his eighth goal of the season.
New York City played the majority of the match up a man and, although it took a while to cash in, found a way to grab all three points. Chicago went down to nine men late in the second half, but by then the result was settled.
Here are four thoughts on the come-from-behind victory.
Mounsef Bakrar ends drought
It had been eight months since Bakrar scored for NYCFC. The Algerian striker attempted seven shots this season, placing just one on target.
But with New York City down 1-0 at halftime against Chicago, head coach Pascal Jansen gave Bakrar 45 minutes to make an impact — and he took full advantage of the opportunity.
In the 58th minute, a low-driven pass into the box from Justin Haak found Bakrar, who uncharacteristically did not waste the opportunity, blasting the ball into the back of the net. Haak notched his second career assist in two games, and Bakrar had his first goal in 20 games.
NYCFC also finally had its first goal from a substitute after finding no help from its bench through the 14 games of the MLS season.
With the drought in the rearview mirror, could Bakrar build off the goal and continue to help a New York City attack heavily led by Alonso Martínez?
Hudson River Blue Staff
Hannes Wolf gets back in the scoring column
It wasn't just Bakrar who ended a scoring drought against Chicago.
Wolf hadn't scored since bagging a brace in the 4-3 loss to Atlanta United on March 29, but the Austrian winger finally got back on the scoresheet in the 70th minute.
Julián Fernández played a cross into the box to Wolf, who did well to create space and get a shot off on his right foot, curving the ball into the bottom right corner past Brady.
The goal gave Wolf the confidence he needed after going nine games without scoring, and showed what the former Bundesliga winger is capable of.
Shutout streak comes to an end
NYCFC had not conceded in the last two games heading into Sunday's match, boasting strong defensive performances against DC United and the New York Red Bulls. Despite being the same backline for the third straight game, the streak ended in the 19th minute, as Philip Zinckernagel scored for the third straight game in all competitions.
Chicago moved quickly following a Chris Brady save, beating New York City's press and exploiting off a quick one-two between Jonathan Dean and Zinckernagel, beating Matt Freese from outside the box.
Jonathan Shore, Aiden O'Neill, and Haak were caught out of position, leaving NYCFC with only Tayvon Gray, Thiago Martins, and Birk Risa to stop the counterattack.
Chicago nearly made it 2-0 minutes later, but the offside flag came to the rescue for New York City.
Alonso Martínez struggles, then scores
Martínez broke his three-game scoreless streak against the Red Bulls with a screamer from outside the box, but the Costa Rican forward struggled in front of goal against Chicago.
After going down 1-0, New York City had multiple chances to get on the scoresheet, but Martínez failed to hit the target multiple times.
On an attack started by Shore forcing a Chicago turnover, Gray did well to get a cross into the box, which Brady cleared out. The rebound fell right to Martínez in front of the goal, but his shot flew over the crossbar.
Not even two minutes later, Wolf passed to Martínez, who rifled his shot off the woodwork for the fifth time this season.
Luckily for Martínez, he had a chance to get on the scoresheet late in the game and make amends for his miss from the spot against FC Cincinnati after Agustín Ojeda won NYCFC a penalty.
Martínez stepped up and buried his penalty, notching his eighth goal of the season and third from the spot. After a tough first half, getting a goal is important for Martínez, who missed two penalties earlier this season.
