Alonso Martínez scores another winner as NYCFC rallies to beat Nashville

"The conclusion is simple. We have 10 finals to get what we want, which is the playoffs."

That’s how New York City FC Head Coach Pascal Jansen previewed this match against Nashville SC. Take each game as it comes, win, and we’re in. Going into the game, there was reason for confidence; the Pigeons had won four of their last five home games, and the visitor had never won in the history of this head-to-head matchup. Their last face-off was a scrappy 2-2 draw that featured a dramatic Hannes Wolf equalizer in the 87th minute. 

None of that mattered to the Coyotes. They seized the game by the throat from the start. Nashville took an early lead through Jacob Shaffelburg in the 10th minute, but New York City got an Andrés Perea equalizer shortly before a long weather delay late in the first half, then secured all three points when Alonso Martínez poked home an Agustín Ojeda cross in the 77th minute, his league-leading seventh game-winning goal of the season.

Visitors in control early

Nashville winger Jacob Shaffelburg sprang Sam Surridge into wide open space in the game’s first thirty seconds, forcing keeper Matt Freese into an excellent reflex save. Then, just an instant later, Josh Bauer saw his pass skitter across the goal line–but that mercifully went out for a corner.

The pressure kept building, and finally, in the 10th minute, a Hany Mukhtar pass found Shaffelburg, and the Canadian shot low past a diving Freese to put Nashville in front, 1-0. 

The Pigeons took that moment to reset themselves. In the 16th minute, the ageless Maxi Moralez took a through ball from Nico Fernández and rifled a shot on target, but it was decently saved by keeper Joe Willis.