The New York City Football Club picked up it’s second 1-0 win in as many weeks, heading north of the border to defeat Toronto FC behind an Alonso Martinez Second Half PK, snapping the Reds four match unbeaten streak. NYCFC, who pop themselves back into 6th place in the East as they begin a brutal stretch of games next week at home.
The Pidgeons had a slightly better output offensively this match, picking up 4 shots on goal compared to just 2 the last 2 matches and even better, held Toronto without a single shot on goal for the entire match. Overall a strong, if slightly slow paced match that ended with 3 points for their second straight game and giving them 12 points on the season in their first 10 matches.
As mentioned, NYCFC begins a tough stretch beginning next week at home against Cincinnati starting on March 4, which is the first of literally 5 matches in a 14 day stretch, including a trip to Pittsburgh for the US Open Cup against the Riverhounds, a team frequently written about on this site (shoutout to Bill Aikins and Ed Quinn there).
4 STATS
1) The match saw the reunion with former goalkeeper/captain Sean Johnson. Johnson, who left starting the 2023 season is currently 1W-5L-0D against his former club.
2) Alonso Martinez picked up his 6th goal of the season for NYCFC. This accounts for half of the team’s 12 goals this year.
3) This match marked the 3rd clean sheet of the season for Goalkeeper Matt Freese. This gives him 18 in his time with NYCFC.
4) NYCFC faces a Cincinnati team that is tops in the East with 22 points. Cincy has won 5 straight and are unbeaten in 6.
