Alonso Martínez leads NYCFC to a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union | OneFootball

On a wet and cold Saturday night, New York City FC was back in Queens for the first time this season.  While the team’s future home will be across the street from Citi Field, most of the home games are at Yankee Stadium in 2025.  But Citi Field is home as well, so NYCFC hoped to make the Mets’ home a fortress.

However, the first opponent was the Philadelphia Union.  NYCFC beat them in Pennsylvania last year but suffered a disastrous defeat at home at Yankee Stadium.  This year, the Union entered the game with four wins already.  Notably, three of the four wins were at the beginning of the season.  Still, they are a better team, and the Pigeons knew that as they prepared for the match.

Interestingly, and arguably the right decision before the opening whistle, Justin Haak started at center-back over Birk Risa.  As fans know, the defense has been a little shaky the last few weeks, so Pascal Jansen’s change made sense.

And, it worked!  NYCFC only scored once, but the team beat Philadelphia 1-0.  Offensively they were a little better.  Although it was not an ideal performance since they had just the two shots on target, a stronger defensive performance made all the difference.

NYCFC beats Philadelphia 1-0

After a slight delay due to a hole in Matt Freese’s goal, NYCFC and the Union began a back-and-forth affair.  The teams had threatening moments throughout the first half, and thankfully this time, the Pigeons did not have to wait until the 77th minute to get their first shot on target.  Instead, Hannes Wolf’s shot in the 12th minute forced the young Philadelphia goalkeeper, Andrew Rick, to earn his first save of the night.

However, that was the only shot on target during the first 45 minutes.  The defensive work was impeccable on both ends and putting Haak in the backline was working.  In fact, Thiago Martins gave the ball away in the 18th minute, and the Homegrown player stepped in to block Quinn Sullivan’s shot.

Still, NYCFC was better offensively.  The Boys in Blue had 11 shots with the two on target, and thankfully, scored earlier this time around. Sure, it was less compared to last week, but their shots were not entirely like they were kids playing at the playground.

In the 55th minute, Mitja Ilenič had a beauty of a pass to Alonso Martínez, who ran up the right side of the pitch.  Rick came off his line and tried to stop the Costa Rican.  But the forward went around him and easily put the ball into the back of the net on an open goal.

Some might say it was luck, but it was a goal that was needed and the fifth for Martínez this season.  Plus, after some terrible mistakes from NYCFC already this year, it was nice to see someone else suffer a poor decision.

In addition, the defense was stronger compared to the last two matches.  The backline and others did well to block shots and keep Philadelphia out of the goal.  Moreover, Freese had another superb performance.  The goalkeeper had three saves but also intervened with crosses and passes.  He secured the ball numerous times and again proved why he is one of the best keepers in the league.  Oh, and he got the clean sheet too.

NYCFC needed all three points, and thankfully, they got the job done.  It was not perfect, and more improvement is needed.  But sometimes that is all a team needs to put them back on the correct path.