Alonso Martínez stunner earns NYCFC gritty win over New England

It wasn't a dominant or especially great performance, but New York City FC did enough to beat New England Revolution 2-1 at Yankee Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 18,892.

New England hadn't scored a goal in 2025 but the visitors received an early goal and an early lead as a gift, with Thiago Martins redirecting a cross past Matt Freese for a 26th-minute own goal.

New York City would respond, hitting the Revs on a counterattack late in the first half featuring a great Hannes Wolf upfield run, a precise pass from Wolf to an onrushing Julián Fernández, and a tidy shot rolled inside the far-post from the 21-year-old Argentine winger.

It was level at halftime thanks to the Fernández goal, setting the stage for a tight second half. New England had more possession than New York City on the night but the Revs did little to threaten the NYCFC defense and would put just one shot on target all game. Their attacking futility gave New York City a chance to scrape by with a win, which they did when Alonso Martínez connected perfectly on a 68th-minute volley, blasting home what would stand as the match-winning goal with an acrobatic finish.

New York City 2-1 New England: 4 Thoughts

A lot went on in New York City’s second straight win: Injuries, own goals, formation rearrangements, yet it all added up to another victory at Yankee Stadium.

Hudson River BlueAndrew Leigh

Early adversity

The Thiago Martins own goal gave New England life and it came at a point in the first half when the Revs were controlling possession and finding openings playing through the New York City backline while whipping crosses into Matt Freese's 18-yard box.

New England fullback and former NYCFC Academy player Will Sands (brother of James) forced Thiago into a clearance similar to the one he got wrong on the OG in the 16th minute. Ten minutes later, right-back Brandon Bye's ball into the box intended for Ignatius Ganago ate the 29-year-old Brazilian defender up, causing him to put his clearance attempt past Freese for his third career own goal with New York City.

🎥 ⚽ https://t.co/DkOp1NTo6a pic.twitter.com/9Ld26VrjX5

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) March 16, 2025

The adversity would continue for the NYCFC backline. Left-back Nico Cavallo, making his first-career MLS start in place of a suspended Kevin O'Toole, went down with an injury and needed to be subbed off in the 29th minute. That forced Pascal Jansen into a change of formation shape, with the first-year NYCFC coach sending on Birk Risa to make it a three-center-back look for his defense, though with Risa given the flexibility to function as a left-back who bombs forward when the team was in possession.

To New York City's credit, they shook off the own goal and the hit to their backline. They didn't allow New England to get a shot on target after the 41st minute and despite the Revs holding more of the ball and putting pressure on NYCFC late in the game, the reworked New York City defense held strong.

Two moments of magic

NYCFC got its equalizer thanks to a picture-perfect counterattack in the 38th minute. Justin Haak played a clearance upfield from his penalty area, New England's Bye tried to head that clearance out of danger but instead put it right into the path of an onrushing Hannes Wolf. Wolf dribbled right up the heart of New England's defense and rewarded his teammate Julián Fernández, making a full sprint into vacated space behind the Revs' defensive line, with a well-weighted pass. Fernández, a left-footed-dominant player, somewhat shockingly used his right foot to slide the equalizer home past Aljaz Ivacic.

Hannes Wolf with a perfect ball to Julián Fernández to bring @NewYorkCityFC level 👌 pic.twitter.com/OG8tyLRaWw

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 16, 2025

That drew New York City level not long before the half, and the game stayed that way for the first interval of the second half. Neither team had much in the way of high-value possession or created many great chances in the second half, until NYCFC found their breakthrough and their match-winner in the 68th minute.

The move for the winning goal began with a nice piece of interplay between substitute Agustín Ojeda and Keaton Parks, with Ojeda dribbling into New England's penalty area and playing a pass into Parks, who was square with the goal but had multiple New England defenders in his path. Keaton dribbled himself into a bit of space and ripped a dangerous low strike toward goal that got redirected, forcing Ivacic into an excellent low save. While the New England keeper's save was good, he couldn't keep the rebound away from an unmarked Alonso Martínez.

OH MY DAYSSSSS 🇨🇷🚲 pic.twitter.com/ZNKbwgrgsQ

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) March 16, 2025

The finish was perfect, Martínez's third goal of the season through four games. Those three goals put him in a six-way tie for second place in the MLS Golden Boot race, and it's easy to see Alonso sticking around on that leaderboard throughout the season. It's a new season but he's the same old El Clínico, popping up and grabbing the goals when the team needs him most.

New York City 2-1 New England: Rate the players

A counterattack goal from Julián Fernández and an acrobatic finish from Alonso Martínez gave NYCFC back-to-back wins in their first two home matches of 2025.

Hudson River BlueHudson River Blue Staff

The grind

Once in front, NYCFC ceded more possession to New England and got even more defensive to close out the game. A fourth center-back got deployed by Pascal Jansen, who replaced 17-year-old Jonathan Shore with Strahinja Tanasijević after Shore picked up a yellow card and while NYCFC was trying to close out the win.

It wasn't a case study in The Beautiful Game, the gritty nature of the match's final 30 minutes aligning neatly with the gloomy, misty, damp conditions at Yankee Soccer Stadium. NYCFC never looked likely to get a third, game-killing goal, and they rode the knife's edge by letting the Revs have the ball and by letting them keep coming at Matt Freese and his defenders. In the end, NYCFC did enough to secure a second straight home win, though Jansen was not super impressed by his team's play.

Jansen opened his postmatch press conference by saying "I wasn't quite satisfied with the performance in general because I thought we were too sloppy, using possession too fast, too quick. Then it becomes a game that goes up and down, and they try to get us in the wide areas with crosses. Controlling the ball is what we're looking for. That was a little off. I'm happy with the win because I told my guys there will be phases like this in games, that we have to fight and stay together and try to grind and make sure that we get the job done."

Two well-taken goals and some much-needed grit and grind to close out a win: It won't always be pretty, but if it results in three points gained, it's hard to complain too loudly. The grit might come in handy now that New York City faces back-to-back road tests against two teams expected to contend for spots at the top of the MLS Eastern Conference, Columbus Crew and Atlanta United FC.