Five months after losing to the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, New York City FC found revenge with a 2-0 win over their bitter rivals on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.
Goals from Alonso Martínez and Maxi Moralez propelled NYCFC to its first multigoal victory of the season and ended a three-game scoreless streak after being blanked by the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, CF Montréal, and DC United.
New York City's win was its 11th in MLS against the Red Bulls, evening the head-to-head record in league play at 11-4-11 with the away fixture to come on September 27 in Harrison, New Jersey.
NYCFC jumped up to 6th Place in the Eastern Conference, just three points shy of Nashville SC, in 4th Place.
New York City: 12 shots, 4 shots on target, 39.7% possession, 290 passes, 70.7% pass accuracy, 12 fouls, 4 corners, 1 save
New York Red Bulls: 11 shots, 1 shot on target, 60.3% possession, 525 passes, 82.5% pass accuracy, 16 fouls, 6 corners, 2 saves
Goals:
• New York City, Alonso Martínez, 13'
• New York City, Maxi Moralez, 50'
Attendance: 30,804
Alonso ends the slump
Martínez entered Saturday's match on a three-game scoring drought, including a missed penalty against FC Cincinnati — he did not look like himself during the slump, missing chances he'd usually score with ease.
He ended the shooting struggles in the 13th minute, as Justin Haak did well to force Emil Forsberg into a turnover. Hannes Wolf and Haak then combined for a quick one-two before Haak found Martínez, who struck the ball from outside the box over Carlos Coronel's outstretched hands to give his side the early lead.
ALONSO MARTINEZ 🚀🚀🚀 pic.twitter.com/ZucGCuCTVB
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 17, 2025
It was Martínez's seventh goal in 13 games this season, seventh in nine games at Citi Field. It was not only Haak's first career assist, but his first goal contribution since scoring a screamer against the Columbus Crew back on July 8, 2023.
NYCFC, despite only leading by one goal at halftime, had multiple chances to have a more comfortable cushion at the break, but couldn't take advantage.
